Curiosity saved the lion
by whofan94
Summary: One night, Ginny asked Arthur to tell her the true story of Harry Potter. When Arthur realizes something when telling Ginny about Harry, the actions he takes could affect the future. H/G R/Hr N/L
1. Prologue

Arthur Weasley was a family man beyond anything else. If one of his seven children fell ill, he would take off work in a heartbeat. No, he couldn't afford to buy his family many material things, but what he could afford is much more valuable: love.

He loved all of his children equally, but one of them had a special place in his heart. This was his one daughter, Ginevra, or Ginny as everyone calls her. She was definitely a strong girl for her age. She had to be with five older brothers and a twin brother. She even had a bit of a mischievous streak to her.

She was an avid Quidditch fan who favored the Hollyhead Harpies. She could always be found listening to the Weird Sisters whenever she could. Both of these, however, pale in comparison to the one person who many would consider her obsessed about: Harry Potter. Ginny had heard many magnificent stories about Harry Potter. Stories that ranged from him defeating dragons, to helping small villages find legendary treasure. Ginny loved all of the stories, but she realized that they couldn't be true. Harry Potter couldn't be much older than she was. She wanted to know the real Harry Potter.

On a hot summer night in 1987, Arthur was tucking Ginny and her twin brother, Ron, into bed. it was then that Ginny asked, "Daddy, can you tell me about Harry Potter?"

Arthur chuckled at Ginny's ever-present interest in The Boy-Who-Lived. "Of coarse, Sweetie. Which story do you want to hear?"

"How is it that he defeated You-Know-Who?"

Arthur was not expecting this. Would a story of the darkest times the Wizarding World had ever seen since Grindelwald be appropriate for two 6 year olds. No it wouldn't, but he knew how tough his children are. "Are you sure, Ginny? It's much different from the story books."

"Yes I'm sure Daddy. I want to know the real Harry Potter, not a story book hero."

Arthur let out a great sigh. "Alright sweetie. Do you remember the couple with the baby when you and Ron were one? The man had messy black hair and the woman had red hair like yours."

Ginny was deep in thought for a few seconds. "A little," she said.

"Well that was James and Lily Potter, Harry's Parents."

Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You mean I actually met Harry Potter before?"

Arthur let out a hearty laugh. "Met him?! You and Ron used to play with him every day in the month of August. You three were inseparable. He would call you two Ro and Gi."

Ginny couldn't help but giggle at the names that baby Harry gave her and her twin brother. "Why did they stop coming?"

"Well you have to understand that back then, You-Know-Who was at his most powerful. People were dying left and right. Once You-Know-Who decides if someone needs to be dead, he or she is dead.

"The Potters were scared for Harry. They were well-known targets of You-Know-Who and did not want Harry to be caught in the crossfire. So, they went into hiding and had Mr. Potter's best friend, Sirius Black, become their Secret Keeper. Unfortunately, Black betrayed the Potters and sold them out to You-Know-Who. No one expected this to happen considering that Mr. Potter and Black were as close as brothers.

On October 31st, the night of All Hallows Eve You-Know-Who broke into the Potter's house and killed both Mr. and Mrs. Potter. He tried to kill Harry as well, but couldn't. The curse rebounded on him and that was the end of his reign.

"When another one of Mr. Potter's friends, Peter Pettigrew, found out that the Potter's were dead, he went to go confront Black. Black killed him and twelve other muggles with a single curse that destroyed the street. All that was left of Peter was a finger. Black was arrested and thrown into Azkaban without a trial."

"Why wouldn't they give him a trial?" Ginny asked with a puzzled look.

"The evidence was too great. There were many witnesses of Peter screaming at Black for betraying his best friends. Then the street blew up. No one seemed to think a trial was necessary. Everyone thought he was guilty."

"How close was Peter to Mr. Potter?"

"Well, while James and Black were like brothers in all ways but blood, Peter was much more quiet. He usually just followed them, plus Mr. Potter's other friend, Remus Lupin, around. Now I haven't met them much, but whenever I saw Peter he looked a bit nervous. Come to think of it, it was as if he was hi-." Arthur stopped and had a blank stare. It was if he was deep in thought.

"Daddy, are you alright?" Ginny asked concerned.

Arthur snapped out of it and looked at his daughter. "I'm fine sweetie. Listen, it's time for you to go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning.

"Ok. Good night Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, Gin. Sleep well." With that, Arthur closed walked out of Ginny's Room and closed the door. He walked to the sitting area where he watched the embers in the fireplace dance. As he watched, he began to think of what he was saying in Ginny's Room. 'Is it possible that Sirius Black is actually innocent and that Pettigrew is the actual traitor? I need to see Dumbledore about this.' He reached for the flowerpot near the fireplace and pulled out a handful of Floo Powder. He threw the powder into the fire, turning it an emerald green, and walked into the fire. He muttered "Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts," and then, he was gone


	2. Chapter 1: Something Amiss

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and the Supreme Mugwamp of the International Confederation of Wizards, was observing one of his trinkets. This one in particular was to monitor the safety of Harry Potter, who has been placed in the care of his muggle relatives. It was designed to alert the user of any danger towards the subject, be it Death Eater activity, domestic abuse, or even a simple scrape on the knee. Something was off though. in the six years that Harry has been in their care, there wasn't a single incident. There wasn't even a trace of whether he has even sneezed. It was as if he just stood completely still for six years avoiding all pain and illness.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the fireplace roared with life. He gazed at the fireplace to see that the flames were emerald green. Out of the flames stepped Arthur Weasley. "Ah, Arthur! To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" Albus asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm sorry for visiting so late, Headmaster, bu-"

"Arthur, i must insist that you call me Albus. I haven't been your headmaster in 16 years. As for the late visit, there is no need to apologize. Now tell me my boy, what is on your mind?"

"Is it possible to switch secret keepers?"

"Of course it is. Rather simple really. Easier than performing the Fidelius Charm and can be done with almost no one knowing. Why do you ask?"

"I think there is an innocent man in Azkaban."

Albus raised an eyebrow at Arthur's statement. "And who do you believe was sentenced to Azkaban an innocent man?"

"Sirius Black."

"On what basis did you form this belief?"

"Thinking back to the Order meetings before that night, Sirius and James were closer than anyone there besides maybe James and Lily. There is no way Sirius would betray them. There was, however, someone else that they trusted that always seemed to be hiding something. That's who i think was their new secret keeper and who betrayed them, framing Sirius in the process."

"Is it safe to say that you are talking about Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yes sir."

"Sirius killed Peter 6 years ago. All that was left was a finger. You know that."

"Was Peter an Animagus? Maybe he escaped the explosion in his animal form."

"Now that you mention it, he did take the form of a rat."

Arthur paled at this. 'Scabbers! He's missing a toe!' "Albus, I think I know where Peter is."

The twinkle disappeared from Albus' eyes. "And where might that be?"

"In the Gryffindor first year boy's dormitory in a cage on the dresser of my third oldest son, Percy."

Albus stood up and rushed towards the fireplace. Then we mustn't waste time! I'm going to call the Aurors. I want you to go up to young Percival's bed, explain to him as best as you can the situation, and retrieve Pettigrew. The Gryffindor password is Lionfire.

Arthur simply nodded as he ran out of the office. He ran as fast as he could to the seventh floor before he ran into the Hogwarts Caretaker, Argus Filch.

"Your not a student," Filch sneered. "What business do you have in the castle?"

"I must find my son, Percy. It is of the upmost importance."

"And why is that, Weasley?" he asked in an unkind tone.

"Because there is a murderer disguised as a rat in the first year Gryffindor boys dormitory!"

"Ha! A likely stor-"

Before Filch could finish, a silver lion appeared from down the hall. "Let him pass, Argus. He is here on my orders" came Albus' voice from the lion before it disappeared.

Filch glared at Arthur. "Very well. You are free to go, but I got my eye on you." With that, Filch walked away and Arthur made another run for the Gryffindor Common Room.

Arthur was amazed that Dumbledore knew what just happened. 'How did he know... never mind. This is Dumbledore. Of course he would know.'

When Arthur made his way to the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, a portrait known as the Fat Lady, he heard a similar and less hateful version of what he heard from Filch from the Fat Lady. "You're not a student," she stated in a confused tone. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to see my son. 'Lionfire'"

"Very well, you may enter." the fat lady swung to its side, revealing the entrance to the Common Room.

When he entered, he saw his middle son studying vigorously with his glasses slightly crooked. "Percy," Arthur called just loud enough for him to hear him.

Percy looked up from his book, 'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot, and saw his father a bit out of breath. "Dad!" he exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"I need you to do something very important for me son. I need you to get Scabbers and bring him down here."

Percy looked confused. "Why do you need Scabbers, Dad?"

"There is something about him that just doesn't seem right. I need to see him."

Percy nodded at his father and ran up to his dormitory. A few minutes later, he returned with a cage containing a sleeping rat who was missing a toe. "Son, take him out of the cage and put him on the floor," Arthur ordered. When Percy did so, Arthur pulled out his wand and pointed it at the rat. 'Stupify' Arthur muttered. When the red jet of light hit the rat, it made a faint squeak sound and then, silence. The rat wasn't dead, but it wasn't waking up anytime soon.

"Dad!" Percy yelled. "What in the name of Merlin are you doing!?"

"You shall see in a second." Arthur aimed his wand at the unconscious rat again and muttered 'Homorphus'. A grey mist surrounded the rat as it transformed it into a man. "Peter Pettigrew," Arthur said in disgust.

Percy looked puzzled. "Who?"

"This is the man who we think framed Sirius Black 6 years ago. We thought he was dead but apparently not. He was an Animagus with the form of a rat, which helped him remain unnoticed for so long. I should have realized when Scabbers showed no sign of aging."

It took ten more minutes for the Aurors to arrive. With Albus leading them, a tall dark man and a shorter man with greying hair entered the room. Following them was a man in black robes with greasy black hair carrying a small vial, and a man with many facial scars and mousy brown hair. The last one to arrive was a rather short man in a bowler hat who was trying to keep as much distance from the mousy haired man as possible. This was the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.

"Arthur," Albus said, "I'd like you to meet Aurors Kingsley Shacklebolt and Rufus Scrimgeour. Beside him is our relatively new potion master, Severus Snape. I'm sure you remember Remus Lupin."

Arthur simply nodded and looked back at the unconscious body.

"Enough with the greetings," said Fudge. "Let's get this over with. I have a tight schedule to abide by."

"If you insist Minister. Severus, if you would so kindly help Arthur tie Pettigrew up in that chair. Then, please administer the Veritaserum."

Both Arthur and Severus grabbed an arm and, with some difficulty, lifted him onto the nearest chair. When he was on, Severus pointed his wand at Pettigrew and muttered 'incarcerus'. Ropes shot out of the wand and wrapped themselves around Pettigrew tightly. After putting his wand away, Severus took out a flask filled with a clear liquid. The liquid was a powerful truth potion that, for a few minutes, will force the truth out of a person. Severus forced Pettigrew's mouth open and poured three or four drops of the potion in.

"Thank you, Severus," Kingsley said. "We shall take it from here." He pointed his wand at the unconscious figure and muttered, 'Ennervate' Pettigrew awoke to see he was surrounded by Ministry officials, his former headmaster, and his former best friend. "State your name."

"P-Peter Pettigrew," he whimpered

"Did Sirius Black kill those twelve muggles six years ago?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"I did."

"Was Sirius Black the Secret Keeper of the location of James and Lily Potter?"

"No."

"Then who was?"

"Me."

"Did you knowingly and purposely betray the Potters and frame Sirius Black for the crimes you have committed?"

"Yes."

This time, Remus asked a question. "Why did you do it Peter?"

"Why do you think!?" Pettigrew shouted in anger. "'Puny Peter Pettigrew: the weakest and most cowardly Marauder.' I was just an afterthought when it comes to you, James, and Sirius. You three would make fun of me, laugh at my failures and my pain. I wanted respect, power, and to be on the winning side. The Dark Lord could assure me all of those things. All I had to do was bring him to the boy and it would all be mine."

"Peter Pettigrew," Scrimgeour spat, "you are hereby under arrest under the authority of the Ministry of Magic for the willing association with a dark wizard, murder of 12 innocent muggles, and the framing of an innocent man of these crimes which have been previously stated. A fair trial shall be given to you, however with the information you have given us today, I don't see how that'll do you any good."

Albus walked to Pettigrew and turned to the Aurors. "Before you take the prisoner away, Aurors, I would like to ask a question myself." He then turned back to Pettigrew and asked, "Mr. Pettigrew, is Lord Voldemort truly dead?"

Most of the room flinched at the mention of the name, Voldemort. Fudge seemed a bit upset that Albus would bring this up. "Not this again, Dumbledore! I keep telling you that You-know-who is dead and is not co-"

"No." everyone looked at Pettigrew with fear. "Even though his body is destroyed, he still lives. He has insurance that keeps himself bound to this world."

"Surely, he could have been lying," Fudge said trying to convince himself.

"If that is so, then why is it that my dark mark still burns?" at this, Severus unconsciously rubbed his right arm. "He is biding his time, waiting for his servants to discover him. Once they do, the Dark Lord shall rise again. The mudbloods shall perish while the half breeds and blood traitors must either bow down to him or suffer the same fate!"

Remus couldn't take it anymore. He launched himself at Pettigrew and began to beat him to a pulp. "You traitorous, back-stabbing, snake-kissing, RAT! We trusted you! We would have protected you with our LIVES! And THIS is HOW YOU THANK US!"

"REMUS!" Albus shouted with much power in his voice. "That is quite enough! Back away from him, now!" Remus did so and Albus turned to Pettigrew. "Peter, I am very disappointed in you."

Pettigrew glared at Albus with a new, dark, even sinister, look and spat in his direction.

As the Aurors took the Pettigrew away, Albus turned to Fudge. "I told you Cornelius. Voldemort is not dead. It's only a matter of time that he returns and wreak havoc to the Wizarding World."

"Be that as it may, Dumbledore, he is currently not in power. As long as he stays hidden and weak, I see no reason to send the Wizarding World into a panic," Fudge said still trying desperately to be calm when he now knew the possibility of Voldemort's return.

"Well I see reason for you to do two more things. I need you to pardon Sirius Black, and I need you to send a statement to the Daily Prophet that he was innocent."

Fudge stared at Albus for a minute and finally said, "Very well. I will retrieve Black from Azkaban."

"Come now Cornelius. do you really think I would let you get Sirius on your own? No. I will be come with you and so will Arthur and Remus. Sirius will need to see a couple of friendly faces."

"Very well, but you will keep that, that beast away from me," he said referring to Remus.

Albus then turned to Arthur and Remus. "Well, are you boys coming or not?" The two nodded their heads and followed Albus and Fudge out of the castle. Their next stop: Azkaban.


	3. Chapter 2: Righting the Wrongs

**A/N: I know technically Fudge didn't become minister until 1990/91, but for the sake of the story, (and partly because I don't know who was before him) he became minister right after Voldemort's disappearance. **

Sirius Black sat in his cell in Azkaban Prison shaking. Between the Dementors sucking out all of the hope he had and the insane laughter of his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, he was lucky to be somewhat strange. He knew nothing of the happenings that were going on outside the prison walls. 'I don't even know what year it is. For all I know it could be 1993.'

He heard a door open and then slam shut. Footsteps were slowly getting louder as a being became visible. It was one of his least favorite people, besides maybe Snivellus, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic. "Well, well," Sirius said looking at Fudge with a tired gaze. "If it isn't Minister Caramel Fudge. Oops, I meant to say Cornelius Fudge. You must forgive me. I'm a bit crazy now."

"Enough with the jokes, Black! I'm here on important business," Fudge scolded.

"Important, huh? I didn't know you knew the meaning of the word."

"Why you little-!"

"Cornelius!" a voice shouted from behind Fudge. "Remember why you are here."

"Dumbledore," Sirius whispered. "Is that you?"

Dumbledore stepped into Sirius' plane of sight with a silver lion right in front of him. "Yes it is and we have a couple more faces you might recognize."

Just then, both Arthur and Remus stepped out of the shadows. "Arthur Weasley," Sirius said. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes." He then turned to Remus. "Remus, you look like hell. The full moon must be insufferable." Remus just nodded. "Why are you all here?"

"Because we found someone who might interest you," Dumbledore said. "Auror Scrimgeour, could you please bring _him _in?" Scrimgeour came in with an unconscious Peter Pettigrew. Sirius jumped onto his feat and started reaching out of the bars trying to grab Pettigrew.

"Sirius, calm down," Dumbledore scolded his former Student. Once Sirius cooled down a bit, Dumbledore continued. "We found out that he was disguising himself as a pet rat for the Weasley family. We know that he was the real Secret Keeper, and that he was the one who betrayed James and Lily. Fudge is here to officially free you. Isn't that right Cornelius?"

"Yes it is," Fudge said not sounding too happy. "As the Minister for Magic, I, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, officially offer you a pardon and free you from the restrains of Azkaban Prison. On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I apologize for the mistake. You shall be paid 10,000 Galleons for each year you were imprisoned and a new wand shall be paid for by the ministry."

Sirius' eyes widened as if he saw an old friend. "I've been waiting so long to hear these words," He murmured.

"Yes, well now you have. Please hurry up though. I don't want to be in this retched place any more than I need to."

Sirius glared at Fudge. "Try staying in a cell for..." He looked at Dumbledore. "How long have I been in here for?"

"You've been here for six years." Dumbledore said saving his wand over the lock of Sirius' cell, unlocking it

Sirius looked amazed. "It's only been six years?" Everyone nodded. Sirius walked out of his cell and scratched his head. "Huh. I could have sworn that it was 12. I thought that Harry already started Hogwarts. Speaking of which, where is Prongslet? I thought that he would want to meet his godfather."

Dumbledore suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Sirius, there is no easy way to tell you this."

"Why? Harry's not hurt, is he?"

"No, no! That's not what I'm trying to say. I put Harry in the care of his Aunt and Uncle."

"YOU WHAT!?" Sirius yelled. "You left Harry with Petunia and her whale of a husband!?"

"I didn't have a choice. You were in Azkaban, and there was no way that the laws would allow me to leave Harry with Remus."

"Ha!" Fudge yelled "Like I would leave a child in the custody of a Werewolf. Not on my watch!"

"Cornelius, please!" Dumbledore said sternly. He turned back to Sirius. "As I was saying, I needed to make sure that Harry would be safe from any remaining Death Eaters. To do this I created blood wards around the Dursley household. I had to leave him with the Dursleys because the blood wards only work if he stays with his blood relatives."

"You don't understand. Petunia hates magic. Vernon abhors anything that is not normal, and magic is on the top of his list of things that needs to disappear."

"I'm sure you are exaggerating a bit. I doubt that they would mistreat family. They have a son who's Harry's age, an-."

"Wait a minute," Sirius interrupted. Are you saying that that Vernon is capable of reproducing?"

Dumbledore chuckled at this statement. "Well, I see Azkaban hasn't affected your sense of humor much. As I was saying, I sincerely doubt that they would do anything to Harry. I have proof of this in my office that might ease your nerves."

"I think that would be a good idea, Dumbledore, but first, could you give me a couple of minutes to talk to Arthur and Remus?"

"I believe that can be arranged," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. He turned to Fudge and said, "Cornelius, I believe that your services are no longer required. You may go back to the ministry if you desire."

Fudge cleared out his throat, probably to sound important. "Yes. I believe that would be best. As I said earlier, I have a tight schedule to abide to and I don't want the amount of work I have to do to pile up too much. Gentlemen, I bid you adieu," he said as he walked to the disapparition point and disapparated.

Dumbledore turned to Sirius and said, "I will be near the disapparition point. Meet me there when you are ready to go."

Sirius nodded and walked over to Arthur. "Arthur, I want to thank you for figuring out my innocence, but I need to know how did you find out that it was Pettigrew?"

"Would you believe the curiosity of a seven-year old girl?" Arthur asked with a slightly amused look.

Sirius looked slightly surprised and yet somewhat amused as well. "Wow. I guess curiosity saved the lion." Both men chuckled at the irony of the situation. "Can I ask you a favor, Arthur?"

"Of, course. What is it?"

"It might take a bit for me to find a house, and I really, really don't want to stay in my parents house. I had a horrible childhood there. I was wondering if I could stay at your place for a little bit."

Arthur wasn't expecting this. "I don't know Sirius. It's kind of cramp in my home as it is. We live in a fairly small house. Plus I'd need time to tell my wife. I can't just go up to her and say "Hey, honey. Were going to have a houseguest for a little bit. He is a former convicted murderer who was wanted for the murder of 12 muggles and Peter Pettigrew, but it turns out he was innocent. Would that be okay?""

"Please, Arthur. I promise I will do my part around the house. I'll even pay for my own food. I just need a temporary place to live while I look for a house."

Arthur thought hard on this. 'Maybe if he waits a few days so that everyone knows he's innocent, he could stay in Bill's old room.' "Sirius, you don't need to pay for your own food. All I ask is that you wait a few days for the news of your innocence to get out, and then you can sleep in my eldest son's old room."

Sirius embraced Arthur in a hug. "Thank you Arthur. You're a lifesaver. Literally."

After Arthur took his leave, Remus walked over to Sirius. "Sirius, I'm sorry that I thought you were guilty. The evidence just seemed so concrete an-."

"Moony," Sirius interrupted using his old nickname. "Don't worry about it. There was no way for you to know. The whole world thought I was a murderous psychopath."

"Thank you Padfoot. Good luck finding a house."

"Thanks. Also, if you ever need me, I still have my enchanted mirror."

Remus nodded and took his leave as well. Sirius looked around the hall. This place was his hell on earth for five years, and now he got to leave. 'Thank Merlin for Dumbledore's Patronus, otherwise I wouldn't be in as good of a mood as I am now.' To make the memory of his departure that much more pleasant, he spit on the floor of the prison.

He walked over to Dumbledore and said, "alright. I'm ready to leave this hellhole."

"SIRI!" came a shrew, high-pitched voice. "You're not going to leave your favorite cousin Bella behind are you?!"

Sirius cringed at the second reason why he hated Azkaban so much. "Dumbledore, can I borrow your wand for a minute?"

"It won't work as well as it would if I used it, but it should still work." Dumbledore said as he handed Sirius his wand. "Why do you need it?"

Sirius aimed Dumbledore's wand at Bellatrix's cell and yelled 'Stupify'. A red jet of light hit Bellatrix and knocked her out. Sirius handed Dumbledore his wand and said, "I've been waiting six years to do that."

* * *

Backin Dumbledore's office, Dumbledore and Sirius were sharing a cup of tea. Sirius gazed around the office. 'Not much as changed here since i was a student. The trinkets are all the same with a few more added to his collection. His phoenix looks a little younger than the last time i was here.' "So, Dumbledore, how is it that you know that Harry is safe?" he asked.

Dumbledore stood up and walked over to a trinket that looked a lot like a grandfather clock and waved Sirius to come along. "This trinket is something of my own creation. I created one for the Weasley's as a wedding gift and thought it would be useful to keep an eye out on Harry. As you can see, there is a picture of Harry on the spoon. Wherever the spoon is on the clock is Harry's state of being. For the past six years, the spoon has been on the 'Happy and Healthy' section, and has not moved once."

"Are you saying that Harry's never accidentally scraped his knee or gotten the flu or anything like that?"

"Not according to the clock, no. I find it strange as well."

Sirius looked all over the clock. It made no sense to him whatsoever that Harry never experienced any type of pain. Then he found something in the back of the clock. "Uh, Dumbledore, you might want to take a look at this."

Dumbledore walked over to the backside of the clock and found what Sirius was talking about: A hole that was caused by a controlled fire. Some of the gears were melted together as well. Dumbledore took out his wand and pointed it at the hole and quickly whispered, 'Reparo'. The gears started to take form and also began to turn again. The hole in the clock also began to mend. Dumbledore walked back to the front of the clock and watched the face in horror. The spoon went quickly from 'Happy and Healthy' to 'Mortal Peril'.

**A/N: is anyone interested in being a Beta for my story? This is my first attempt at writing a FanFic and I could use a little help. Please PM me if your interested.**


	4. Chapter 3: The Rescue

A puddle of tears and blood surrounded the boy as he sat on his small bed under the cupboard. He did his best to keep his crying as quiet as he could or else his Uncle Vernon would have to punish him again. His aunt and cousin were out of town for the week, so he would be able to punish him even more severely. 'I deserve to be punished though,' he thought. 'I'm nothing but a freak. No better than a cockroach.'

This has been the pattern for the boy for six years now. His Aunt Petunia would give him impossibly long list of chores to do, his cousin, Dudley, would beat him up along with his friends, and his Uncle Vernon would punish him if one chore is left undone. The punishment would be a variety of things that can be as tame as a belt whipping, to being as severe as throwing him against things.

Just yesterday, he was told to mind the bacon for Dudley. When he removed the bacon from the pan an placed it onto Dudley plate, Dudley distorted his fat face and yelled, "THE FREAK BURNT MY BACON!" The bacon wasn't burnt at all, but his Uncle Vernon didn't care. It gave him an excuse to punish the boy. He took the still hot frying pan and swung it at the boy's back. He struck him with so much force, he soared into the wall with his back blistering. Uncle Vernon then grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck and threw him in his cupboard. The next day the wound on his back was completely healed, but Uncle Vernon found out, and beat him with a lamp.

It was a horrible life for the boy. He had no idea why his relatives hated him, but they did. He knew there was absolutely no way to get them to think otherwise.

After another hour of crying, he heard the cupboard door unlock. His Uncle Vernon was standing in the doorway with his messed up hair and purple face. It was obvious that he has been drinking quite heavily. "It's time to rid this house of your presence, you good for nothing freak!" he yelled as he grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him to the ground. He began to throw punches in every area of the boy's body. The boy was experiencing pain like he has never felt before.

After what seemed like hours, the blows ceased, but the pain was too much. The last thing he heard before entering blissful unconsciousness was a voice. A familiar voice at that. "HARRY!"

A few minutes prior, Sirius and Dumbledore apparated onto the street of Privet Drive, where Harry was being "taken care of" by his relatives. "Are you sure this is where he is, Dumbledore," Sirius said with a tone of doubt. "All these houses look exactly the same to me."

"Yes, I am positive. Number 4 Privet Drive. That is the house I left Harry in. Now we have to come up with a plan of action."

"I already have a plan of action. Curse those damn Dursleys to Kingdom Come and take Harry from them. Simple."

"Sirius, you just got out of Azkaban. Surely you don't want to go back for attacking a muggle, do you?"

"You're the Chief Warlock, Dumbledore. Couldn't you say something in my defence to prevent my conviction?"

Dumbledore had a dark look in his eye. 'I will not have one of my students get thrown into Azkaban for the same crime that my father committed. Especially after he has been wrongly placed in Azkaban for five years' "No, Sirius! You are not to attack the Dursleys unprovoked! You are limited to stunning and stunning alone!"

"Fine, but if they touch one hair on Harry's head your going to have to hold me back. Let's get our wands out." They both took out their wands, Sirius' wand being one of Dumbledore's old wands, and walked towards the house.

As they got nearer, they started hearing punches. They began sprinting towards the door. Sirius pointed his wand towards the door and yelled 'Reducto'. The door shattered into pieces. Sirius and Dumbledore ran into the house to find, in horror, that Vernon Dursley was beating Harry severely with the intent to kill. It didn't look like it would take much more. Both Sirius and Dumbledore aimed their wands at the walrus of a man and yelled 'Stupefy'. The combined force of the two spells were just enough to blast Vernon off of Harry into the wall next to the cupboard. He was still moaning, so he was alive.

Sirius ran to Harry's side. He was beaten pretty badly, which made Sirius panic even more. "Harry, can you hear me?" He asked. No reply. "Harry, please answer me!" Still nothing. "HARRY!"

"Sirius, he's not going to wake. At least not now." Dumbledore kneeled at Harry's side and put two fingers on his wrist. "He's alive, but his pulse is weak. He needs immediate medical attention. I don't want to cause a scene by having Harry being treated in a public area, so Hogwarts and St. Mungo's are out."

"The only place I can think of right now is the Weasley's, but do you think it's alright for me to show up on their doorstep with a severely injured child? Even without Harry, Arthur told me to wait a couple of days."

"I'm sure that Molly will understand if I explain things to her. What's important is to get Harry to a safe environment."

"What are we going to do with Dursley over there?"

Dumbledore waved his wand and murmured 'Expecto Patronum'. A silver Phoenix shot out of the wand and turned to Dumbledore. "Send Aurors to Number 4 Privet Drive Little Winging, Surrey. This man has been physically abusing Harry Potter with the intent to kill." The phoenix nodded and flew towards the Ministry.

Sirius looked confused. "Did you just talk to your Patronus?"

"Not exactly. I used my Patronus as a messanger. It will tell the Aurors exactly what I told it. It's a little technique that I developed a couple of years ago." Dumbledore picked up Harry's fragile body. "Let's get going. The sooner we get Harry to the Weasleys, the better." Sirius nodded as Dumbledore disapperated. Sirius was not far behind.

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is a bit short. I wanted to get a chapter out quicker, but I had papers to do. Please check out the poll on my profile page and PM me if you want to Beta my story.**


	5. Chapter 4: House Guests

**A/N:I recently received a review from someone who was upset with the explanation scene in this chapter about how the Weasleys, Dumbledore, Remus and Sirius were just standing around chatting before getting Madame Pomfrey. I apologize for this and I corrected it. I ****encourage readers to please let me know if there is something that doesn't seem right.**

It had been a tiring 4 hours for Arthur. First he finds out that Sirius Black, the man who supposedly the one who betrayed the Potters and killed 12 muggles with one curse, was not guilty. Then he finds out the one who really committed those crimes was disguising himself as a rat and living with them as Percy's pet. Not to mention that the Dementors, even with Dumbledore's Patronus, shook him up a bit. He needed rest.

As soon as he opened the door to his room, he saw his wife, Molly, sitting on the edge with her arms crossed glaring at his direction. This was never a good sign. "Where have you been?" she asked in a quiet yet dangerous tone.

Arthur was nervous. He wanted to tell Molly and the kids at the same time of what happened. "Molly, please. I've had a very eventful few hours."

"Answer my question, Arthur!" she demanded a little louder.

"I was in Dumbledore's office."

Molly looked a bit worried at this. "Oh dear. Is Percy ok? He was always a shy boy. I hope he's not having too tough of a time making friends."

Arthur couldn't help but chuckle at his worrying wife. 'She always has been a natural born worrier.' "Molly, relax. Percy's fine. I wasn't there because of the kids. I rather tell you in the morning. I want the kids to know about this too and I don't want to tell the story more than once if don't I have to."

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going though?"

"Because you were to busy dealing with Fred and George. Now please Molly, let's go to bed. I promise that I will tell you in the morning." Molly nodded and they both got into bed and went to sleep.

The rest was short lived because just an hour and a half later, there was a knock at the door. Arthur woke up rather annoyed. 'Who could be knocking at this hour?' he thought to himself as he got out of bed. He walked down the stairs and opened the door and found Albus, Sirius, and a bruised up boy in Sirius' arms. "Albus, Sirius, what are you two doing here?!" he asked in a soft, yet stern voice. His attention then turned to the boy. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Yes, Arthur," Albus said. "This is Harry Potter." He turned to Sirius. "Sirius, if you would please place Harry on the sofa." Sirius nodded and walked into the house as quietly as he could. He turned to the sofa and gently placed Harry on the couch.

"What the hell happened to him? He looks like he's been to hell and back."

"He has been beaten severely by his relatives, mostly his uncle. He's alive, but not by much. Vernon was going to beat him to death if we did not save him when we did. If I were you, I'd wake up your wife and kids. It would be best if your family weren't surprised about this."

"I really didn't want to tell them about this in this way, but fine."

"Before you do though, may i please use your Floo? I have to make a call."

Arthur looked at Sirius, who seemed to be snickering. Arthur didn't know why. He just needed to use his fireplace. "Of course Albus. Go right ahead."

Arthur walks upstairs and knocked on the doors of all of his children who were still home. "Weasley Family Meeting in five minutes!" he yelled as he walked to his own room. He shook Molly awake and whispered, "There is an emergency Weasley Family Meeting downstairs in five minutes. Some unforeseen circumstances have arrived."

"Arthur, its 3 in the morning," she moaned. "What could possibly be so important that it can't wait until everyone is actually awake?"

"How about the fact that Harry Potter almost died tonight." This caught Molly's attention as her eyes widened.

"What do you mean Harry Potter almost died?!" she practically screamed.

"I'll tell you when everyone's downstairs."

* * *

"How is he Poppy?" Albus asked in a concerned voice.

"Not good, Albus," she replied without looking up from her patient. "He is severely malnourished. I think it's been a few days since he had anything in his stomach. He had several broken bones that mended the wrong way and they have to be rebroken. Also he lost a lot of blood, but i gave him some blood replenishing potions to take care of that. I just need to figure out which nutrition potions to use for him."

"How long do you think it will take for him to heal."

"I am sure that he will wake up within the next couple of days, but there will be some scars from when his relatives beat him. Also it will take some time for him to completely heal mentally. Abuse is not something you can just walk away from." Sirius, now disguised as a dog known as Padfoot, ran towards Poppy and sat next to her. He barked twice to tell her thank you.

Two minutes later, Arthur and Molly were walking down the stairs. "How do you know that Harry Potter almost died tonight?" Molly asked hesitantly.

"See for yourself," Arthur said as Harry, who was currently being taken care of by Poppy Pomfrey, the healer in charge of Hogwarts Hospital Wing. Molly screamed so loud, that if the children weren't awake before, the sure were now.

All four of the Weasley children ran down the stairs in response to their mother's scream. They all took a look at what upset her. Ginny then began screaming as well.

"Bloody Hell!" Fred and George said with their jaws dropped. Molly was still in shock of Harry's current state and didn't realize what her sons said.

"What happened to him Dad?!" Ron asked in a panicky tone.

"I can answer that," Sirius said, now in his human form.

Molly pulled out her wand and aimed it at Sirius. "Get out of my house, you murderer!" Molly yelled.

"Molly! Lower your wand! NOW!" Arthur demanded.

"Why should I?! He killed 12 muggles with a single curse. He is the reason Harry's an orphan. He is-,"

"Innocent." Arthur interrupted. " That's why I was in Albus' office today. You see, Ginny wanted me to tell her the story of how Harry really defeated You-Know-Who. I came to the part of Sirius' capture, and Ginny wondered why he never received a trial if James and Sirius were so close. I started to remember back to the times with the Order and I realized how nervous Peter Pettigrew was. It wasn't a shy nervous. It was like someone was hiding something.

"After Ginny was asleep, I flooed over to Albus' office and we both came to the conclusion that Peter was the traitor and was very much alive. He was an animagus whose form was a rat, or as we knew him, Scabbers."

"You mean to tell me that Percy's rat has been a mass murderer the whole time?" a pale Molly asked.

"Unfortunately so, dear. All that was supposedly left of Pettigrew was a finger. Scabbers was missing a toe. It added up. I went up to the Gryffindor Common Room and asked Percy to get him for me. I stunned the rat and canceled his animagus state. Pettigrew testified under Veritaserum that Sirius was innocent and that he himself was the actual traitor. After he was arrested we went to retrieve Sirius. Since that is the most I know of the story, I'll let Sirius tell the rest."

Before Sirius could start speaking, the flames in the fireplace turned green and Remus Lupin stepped out. "I got here as fast as I could. All Sirius said was it was an emergency. What ha-" Remus stopped when he saw Harry and the condition he was in. "Is that…" Everyone nodded. "What happened to him!"

"I was just getting to that, Moony," Sirius said in a very serious tone. "After Remus and Arthur left, it was just Dumbledore and me. I told him my concerns of having Harry stay with the Dursleys, but he waved me off. He showed me one of his trinkets that showed how Harry is doing. It's actually rather similar to the clock in here, Arthur.

"Anyway, the trinket said that Harry was happy and healthy, but little did Dumbledore realized that the trinket was tampered with. I found a hole burnt through the back of it with some of the mechanisms melted. When Dumbledore repaired it, the arrow went straight to mortal peril.

"We quickly went to Privet Drive to save Harry. We were almost too late as Vernon was trying to beat Harry to death. We stunned Vernon and Dumbledore called the Aurors and they contacted the muggle authorities. We took Harry, and now, here we are."

"So all of this happened because Ginny wanted to know how Harry defeated You-Know-Who?" Molly asked incredulously.

"Pretty much, yeah," Arthur said with nothing more coming to mind.

"Wow Gin-Gin. You saved The-Boy-Who-Lived," Fred (or was it George) said.

"Now you're his hero." The other twin said causing Ginny to blush.

"Oy! Lay off her, you numpties!" Ron ordered.

"Tsk tsk, Ronniekins. Who taught you such language?" Fred asked.

"Now wait a moment Fred. I do believe that we taught him that word."

"Why yes, George. I do believe that you are right."

"Indeed"

"Quite"

"Alright. Enough you two," Molly scolded. "It's time for all of you kids to go off to bed. Your father and I have to talk with Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lupin."

After all of the kids went up to bed, Arthur turned to Albus. "So what are we going to do with Harry?" Arthur asked

"I suggest you let Poppy take care of him for now. After she finishes, you can move him into Charlie's room." he said looking at Harry hoping that he would recover soon.

* * *

The boy woke up in an unfamiliar environment. It was small but not as small as he was used to. He was on a large (for him) bed with warm covers. He was... comfortable. It is a rather unfamiliar feeling. he couldn't remember a single time he was comfortable. His relatives saw to that. The walls were red and covered with pictures of men in brightly colored robes flying on broomsticks with one having a ball under his arm, but that couldn't be. Broomsticks can't fly. Then again, pictures cant move, but this one was.

The boy was brought out of his musings by the sound of the door opening. Two red-headed children, probably brother and sister, were standing in the doorway. "Sorry if we woke you, mate," the brother said. "We were told to check on you. I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley. This is my twin sister, Ginny."

Harry looked around the room as if he thought that Ron was talking to someone else. Who would want to talk to a freak like him. "I'm sorry but are you talking to me?" the boy asked.

"Of course he's talking to you, Harry," Ginny said with a warm smile.

The boy looked confused. 'Harry? Who's Harry?' "There must be some mistake. My name is not Harry."

Ron and Ginny looked at each other incredulously. Ron looked back at the boy and said, "Of course your name is Harry. What do you think it is?"

"Well, my relatives always called me "Freak" so i thought that that was my name."

"No Harry. Your name is Harry Potter," Ginny said with a frown. "Mr. Black and Professor Dumbledore told us about your Aunt and Uncle. They are bad people Harry."

"But you don't ever have to go back there again," Ron said. "Mr. Black is going to take care of you."

"Tell him thanks, but no thanks. No one should have to take care of a freak like me," the boy, Harry said with a gloom look on his face.

Ginny started walking towards Harry. When she reached him, she embraced in a hug. Harry couldn't remember the last time he was hugged. It was probably before his parents died because he knew there was no way that Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would show any caring emotion for him. It was the most brilliant sensation he had ever felt. The hug was warm and caring. He began to feel like he wasn't such a waste of space.

When the hug ended, Ginny looked into Harry's eyes and said, "You aren't a freak, Harry. I don't think your a freak and neither do Ron, my other brothers, Mummy, Daddy, or Mr. Black."

Harry looked at Ginny. She looked really sincere about what she said."Thank you, Ginny."

"Your welcome," she said with a smile.

"Come on, Gin," Ron said. "Let's go tell Mr. Black that Harry's awake. I'll race you." With that, Ron bolted out of the room with Ginny closely behind. Harry looked at the doorway with a smile. Things seemed to be looking up for him.

**A/N: I know Ginny might be a bit mature for 7 years old, but i wanted her to be the reason Sirius is free from Azkaban and, through that, Harry is free from the Dursleys. It would have worked better if they were 9, but i wanted at least 4 years in between Harry's rescue and Harry's first year. Please take a look at my profile and take my poll. Again, PM me if you are interested in being a Beta for my story.**


	6. Chapter 5: The Godfather

Sirius was sitting on the bed of Arthur and Molly's eldest son, Bill, thinking. 'Would Harry ever forgive me for leaving me in that retched place? Would Harry even like me at all?'

Sirius couldn't bare the thought of Harry hating him. It was just too painful. Instead, he began to focus on what he would do for the young lad. 'We need a House. I will not allow Harry to grow up at Grimmauld Place. It was way to grim there. Maybe somewhere close to here. Yeah there's an idea. That way Harry can remain friends with Ron and Ginny. It has to be a house with comfortable sized bedrooms. That cupboard that he's been staying in must have made him claustrophobic to some degree. Clothes! That's a definite. Also food. He looks a bit underfed. All I need is a few days to find a house.'

Sirius was brought out of his thoughts when Ron and Ginny literally ran into the room. "Ha! I beat you!" Ron shouted triumphantly.

"Nu-uh!" Ginny countered. "You tripped me by Mummy and Daddy's room!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Alright you two," Sirius said standing up. "That's enough yelling. Now, is there something you two wanted to tell me?"

"Harry's awake, Mr. Black," Ron said.

"But he didn't even know his name was Harry," Ginny continued.

"He thought it was Freak."

"He thought he was a waste of space."

"But Ginny calmed him down."

Sirius frowned at the fact that Harry didn't know his own name and thought that he was a freak. "Well, thank you for telling me that Harry's awake. Oh, and don't call me Mr. Black. It makes me feel old. Call me Sirius, okay?" The two redheads nodded. "Brilliant. Now, if you two will excuse me, I have to see my godson."

Harry was observing the pictures of the guys on the broomsticks again. They actually looked cooler with another glance. There were three people standing in front (the middle one holding a ball the size of a human head), the back having a man with just a broom, two men with bats, and one last man holding a small, golden, winged ball. The last one is who interested Harry the most. He seemed like he was the one who felt the most accomplished.

"Harry," A voice said from the door. Harry turned around and saw a tall thin bearded man in black robes.

"Um, hello." Harry replied somewhat hesitantly. It was rather weird to see a man just stare at him like that. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he finally said. "Sorry about that it's just amazing how much you look like your father. Except for your eyes of course. Those belonged to your mum."

"Harry looked at the man with wide eyes. "You knew my Mum and Dad?"

"Of course I knew them. Your father, James, was my best friend, and your mother, Lily, was like a sister to me."

"Not to be rude or anything, but who are you?"

The man chuckled. "I keep forgetting that you have no idea who I am. My name is Sirius Black. I am your godfather."

"What's a godfather?"

"Basically, if something is to happen to your parents, I am supposed to be the one who takes care of you. Unfortunately, some problems came up that made me unable to take care of you."

"What happened?"

"I was arrested for a crime I didn't commit. I was let free though and I'm ready to take care of you."

"You said that you knew my parents. What were they like?"

"I'm guessing the Dursley's never told you anything good about them, did they?"

Harry shook his head. "Aunt Petunia said Dad was a drunk and Mum was a whore. What's a whore?"

Sirius squeezed his hands in anger. With a few deep breaths, he calmed down. "You're too young to know what that is, but believe me when I say that she isn't a whore, and your father wasn't a drunk. Your dad was the best friend anyone could ask for. Brave, loyal, and caring. When we were in school, we were somewhat of troublemakers who like to play pranks that everyone enjoyed.

"Your mother was the smartest person I have ever met, but she had a temper like you wouldn't believe. It's the infamous red-head temper that your father seemed to love. At first, your mother didn't really want your father, but she eventually fell head over heals in love with him."

"Why are they not here anymore?"

Sirius let out a deep sigh. He really didn't want to tell him, but he had to know. "A very bad wizard named Lord Voldemort killed them."

Harry looked confused. "What do you mean wizard? Magic isn't real."

"I should have known the Dursleys wouldn't tell you who you are. Harry, magic is real. Witches, wizards, dragons, goblins, mer-people. They are all real. And you, Harry, are a wizard."

Harry's jaw dropped. "I'm a what?"

"A wizard. It's probably why your relatives didn't like you that much. Your aunt and uncle hate anything having to do with magic. Come to think of it, they hate everything that doesn't fit their definition of "normal". Basically, they hate everyone but themselves, but you actually had the displeasure of living with them."

"So, I'm a wizard. Does that mean I can do magic?"

"I'm sure you've already have. Have you ever had anything weird happen around you when you were angry or scared?"

Harry thought back. When he thought about it, there were many instances. One time when Aunt Petunia shaved his head where only the bangs were left to cover up his lightning bolt scar, his hair grew back to full length the next day. Another time when Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, was over, her demon of a dog chased after him relentlessly until he was suddenly on the roof. Then there was the burn wound from a few days ago after the bacon incident that healed overnight. Harry simply nodded.

"That's called accidental magic. Most kids experience it before they get their wand. Once you're able to control your magic, the accidental magic should stop."

"How do I learn to control my magic?"

"How does anyone learn to do anything? School"

"There's a school for magic?"

"Indeed there is. Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The finest school for magic in all of Europe. Once you turn 11, you will be starting there. Of course first we would have to get your equipment in Diagon Alley."

"What's Diagon Alley?"

"It's a street filled with Wizarding shops. A place for spell books, pets, wands, bank, an ice cream parlor, an apothecary (that's where you get stuff for potions and stuff like that), a pub/inn, and more. Come to think of it, I need to go there in a few days. I need a new wand."

"Could I come?" Harry asked excitedly. "I want to see what it's like."

Sirius chuckled. "Of course, but you'll have to wait until the healer says you can."

"Could Ron and Ginny come with us?"

"I see no reason why not. We just have to bring it by Mrs. Weasley first, alright?"

"Okay,"

"Great! Now I think it would be best if you get some more sleep. Madame Pomfrey will be here in a little bit to check up on you. Then Mrs. Weasley will have a nice meal prepared for you."

When Sirius said that Mrs. Weasley had a nice meal prepared for Harry, he wasn't kidding. The food was absolutely delicious. She made him a chicken potpie bigger than anything Harry has ever eaten, plus potatoes. And for desert, which had to be Harry's favorite part, was a treacle tart.

Within 5 days or so, Harry was back to good health, if not still a little skinny. Madame Pomfrey gave him a clean bill of health and released him from the confines of the bed. Harry didn't know the house all that well yet. In fact, all he really knew were the bedroom and the bathroom. He walked downstairs hoping that he would Sirius. He peaked into the kitchen to see that Sirius was talking to Mrs. Weasley.

"Sirius I find it a bit farfetched that it would be Ginny," Mrs. Weasley told Sirius.

"I'm telling you Molly, the interaction between those two are just like those between his parents after they finally stopped denying their feelings," Sirius argued back. "Well, except for the physical interaction, but they're way too young for that."

"Too young for what?" Harry asked. The two adults jumped at the new voice.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed in shock. "I, uh, will tell you when you're older. W-what are you doing out of bed?"

"Madame Pomfrey said I don't have to stay in bed anymore."

"Well that's great Harry! I'm guessing you want to go see Diagon Alley now huh?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded "Alright then. Let me go get my key. Oh, and Molly, I think Harry has something to ask you." With that Sirius walked up to the room he was sleeping in.

"What is it dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Can Ron and Ginny come with us to Diagon Alley?"

Molly's smile faltered some. "I don't know Harry dear. We don't have all that much money right now."

"I'll pay for them!" Sirius yelled from upstairs.

Molly shook her head in amazement. "Well I guess that's settled then. Why don't you run up to their room and tell them."

Harry nodded and ran up the stairs. Finding Ron and Ginny's room was fairly easy. It was the only door with their names on it. Harry opened the door, and found Ron and Ginny having a spirited argument. "I'm telling you Gin, it's going to be the Cannon's year!"

"They haven't won a game in hundreds of years, Ron! The Harpies are going to the World Cup!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uhhhhhhh,"

Ron and Ginny turned around to find Harry was standing in the doorway. "Harry!" Ron shouted. "You're out of bed!"

"Yeah. Madame Pomfrey said I'm fine now, and Sirius said he'd take us to Diagon Alley."

"Wicked!" Ginny yelled. "We can look at the new Cleansweep six!"

"And we can get some Fortesque's ice cream," Ron added.

"Kids let's go!" Sirius hollered from across the hall. "I got my key and heading downstairs now!"

The three six year olds looked at each other. "Let's race down!" Ron suggested. "3, 2, 1, GO!" with that Harry, Ron, and Ginny ran as fast as they could to the family room. This was the start of a great new friendship.

**A/N: Sorry I took so long to update. I'm planning on introducing Hermione in chapter 7. Please take the poll on my profile.**


	7. Chapter 6: Diagon Alley

Harry was sick. He didn't know if it was because he was anxious to see Diagon Alley for the first time, or because he was still dizzy from his first time using floo travel. All he knew is that when he arrived in what seemed to be some sort of restaurant, his stomach was doing somersaults. Sirius looked down at him and smirked.

"A bit queasy, are ya, Harry?" Harry nodded. "Don't worry about it. Floo travel will do that to a person his first time using it. If you think that's bad, wait until you apparate for the first time."

"Sirius, where are we?" Harry asked, looking around the room full of wizards and witches.

"This is The Leaky Cauldron, one of the best pubs in Wizarding London and the entrance to Diagon Alley. Now let's wait for Ron and Ginny, then we can get something to eat."

Just then, the fireplace lit up with green flames, and Ron tumbled out with Ginny following him. The stood up and began to dust themselves off. "Sorry we took so long," Ron said.

"Mum held us back to remind us to be on our best behavior," Ginny finished.

"It's quite alright kids. Why don't we go eat while we're here? I know for a fact that the shepherd's pie here is amazing." The four walked over to the bar to get a table. "Hello Tom," Sirius greeted the barman.

"Sirius!" Tom exclaimed. "How's life treating you?"

"It's a lot better than it was a week ago that's for sure."

"Well it's good to know that justice was finally served. So what brings you here today?"

"I need to go to Ollivander's to purchase a new wand after the whole… you know. My godson wanted to join me with his friends so we decided to stay here for some slices of shepherd's pie."

Tom looked down at the children to see who Sirius was referring to. His eyes widened when he saw the scar on Harry's forehead. "Good lord! It's Harry Potter!" He said a little too loudly. Everyone in the room stopped exactly what he or she was doing and looked at the black-haired, green-eyed boy. Within seconds there was a mob around the four.

"Welcome back, Harry!" One voice hollered.

"Thank you for saving us!" Another yelled with glee.

"I named my first-born after you!"

"Can you sign my daughter's Harry Potter doll?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU!" Tom yelled with a vein popping out of his bald head. "Yes Harry Potter is back. I'm surprised too. This doesn't give you permission to swarm over him like a group of vultures. If you don't leave these four alone, I will call the Aurors." Everyone went back to their seats and returned to what they were doing. This didn't stop the stares though.

"I'm sorry about this Sirius. I should probably get you a private room." Tom said in an undertone.

"That would probably be best. Thank you Tom," Sirius said. Tom nodded and waved his wand toward the wooden wall. A door appeared in the middle and Sirius and the children walked into the room behind it.

When the four were seated, Harry started to think. All of those people seemed to know him. He never met any of them in his life! "Sirius, how did they know me?"

Sirius sighed. "I had a feeling you would ask that. Remember when I told you how your parent's were killed?" Harry nodded. "Well the wizard who did it, Voldemort, was a lot worse than I originally made him out to be."

Harry noticed that both Ron and Ginny cringed violently when Sirius said the word 'Voldemort'. "What do you mean?"

"Five years ago, the Wizarding World was at war with… that man and his followers. People became so afraid of him that, even today, people cringe at the sound of his name. They refer to him as 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'. He killed anyone who was against him. Sometimes, he would even kill his own men.

"For some reason, he went after you. I don't know if you were the main target or if he wanted to have a clean kill, but he killed both Lily and James with a curse that no one had ever survived. No one. Until he used it against you. Not only did you survive the curse that no one ever survived, the curse rebounded onto him and he disappeared. The only trace of the curse on you is that scar on your forehead.

"Everyone knew your name from that day forward. You, Harry, are one of the most famous wizards in our world since Albus Dumbledore."

Harry's eyes grew wide. His gaze went from Sirius to Ron and Ginny. "You two knew who I was long before I did?" he asked. The two nodded cautiously. Harry looked at Sirius again and said, "But I don't want to be famous; especially for something I can't remember."

"I know, Harry, but there's nothing anyone can do about it. You just have to endure it."

After finishing their pieces Shepherd's Pie, Sirius gave Tom 4 galleons and guided the children out the back exit. There, they found nothing but a brick wall. "Sirius, it's just a brick wall. Where's Diagon Alley?" Harry asked, looking around, as though expecting it to pop up any second.

Sirius smirked while Ron and Ginny were grinning. "Well, let me show you." He said as Harry looked back at the brick wall. He knocked on a brick, then one above it. It looked like a pattern. He went three bricks up and two to the left. After he knocked the last brick, they began to move. An arch that was not originally there had opened up. "Welcome, Harry, to Diagon Alley."

Harry took only five steps forward and he was already overwhelmed. Cauldrons, Broomsticks, robes, spellbooks, even a store for wands! This would be a shock for anyone who didn't already know how amazing the Wizarding World truly was.

"So what do you think?" Sirius asked bringing Harry out of his state of shock.

Harry looked at Sirius and said excitedly, "Wicked! What do we do first?"

"First thing we need to do is go to Gringotts, the Wizarding Bank." He said pointing to a large, grand building. "I only had enough Galleons for shepherd's pie and I'm going to need more."

When they first entered, Harry stopped and read a silver plaque.

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_'_**_Of what awaits the sin of greed_**

**_'_**_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_'_**_Must pay most dearly in their turn._**

**_'_**_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_'_**_A treasure that was never yours,_**

**_'_**_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_'_**_Of finding more than treasure there._**

Sirius then turned to Harry. "I need to warn you about the creatures who work here. The Goblins run the wizarding banks all over the world, but they aren't creatures you can really trust that well, as the sign says. The thing you can trust them with is keeping your valuables safe, but crossing a goblin could end up very badly. Also, try and be polite. That means not pointing out anything unusual about the goblins." Harry nodded and Sirius smiled. "Great! Let's go."

They walked to the front desk and saw an old two foot creature with long fingers, pointy ears, a pointy nose, and not much hair. "May I help you?" the goblin asked with a snarl.

"Yes. I would like to access the Black Family vault." Sirius said in the kindest tone he could muster.

The Goblin's eyes narrowed at Sirius' tone. "And do you have your key, Mr. Black?" Sirius handed the key over to the Goblin who observed it carefully. "Very well. Griphook, please bring Mr. Black and company to the Black Family vault."

"Yes Head Goblin," Griphook, a younger looking (but still old) goblin with grey hair. Griphook turned to the four. "Follow me."

The group went through another pair of doors to find that the next room wasn't a room at all; it was a labyrinth of caverns and railways. "Into the cart please," Griphook ordered, stepping into the cart himself.

When everyone was in, Griphook pulled a lever. The cart began to move at a high speed. Harry looked at Sirius and saw that he was gripping tightly to the bar in the cart. He looked at Ron and Ginny who looked like they were having the time of their lives. He himself never felt such a thrill. It was a sense of weightlessness that seemed to set him free from the bindings of gravity itself. He felt great! Then, the cart stopped.

"Please step out." Griphook said with Sirius' key visible in his grasp. They walked towards Vault 711 and Griphook inserted the key into the keyhole. All of the carvings in the door glowed from the center outwards as the doors opened. Within the vault were giant mountains of gold galleons, heaping mounds of silver sickles, and walls completely covered with bronze knuts.

Ron and Ginny couldn't believe their eyes. Coming from a family without a lot of money, they never believed that they would see this much gold in their lives. "Wicked!" they both said at the same time, in awe.

"I know. All of this gold is a bit overwhelming. Here are some moneybags," Sirius said handing each of the kids a moneybag. "Fill them up and it should be enough for what we need today."

The children did so and the five went back into the cart. Outside the bank Sirius said, "Next up is Ollivanders. It's about time that I'm able to do magic with my own wand."

The group walked into Ollivander's shop and were greeted by an old man with wild hair and a disposition that, at first glance, would seem a bit mad. "I've been wondering when you would finally show up Sirius." He said.

"Hello Mr. Ollivander." Sirius said. "To be completely honest, I was hoping I wouldn't come back here until Harry get's his wand."

"Yes, well no one could control what happened. Now raise your wand arm." Ollivander measured nearly every part of Sirius' body. "You were Cypress and Unicorn Hair, 10 ½ inches, flexible but not bendy, correct?" Sirius nodded. "Just a moment." Ollivander pulled out a box. "Try this. Oak and Phoenix Feather, 11 inches, springy." He handed him the wand and took it away just as quickly. "No that won't do. How about this one"

This went on for about 15 minutes. Finally Ollivander said, "Alright. I think I know what wand to give you now." He took out a wand and gave it to Sirius. "Applewood and Unicorn Hair 11 ¼ inches, swishy."

Sirius felt the same warm sensation he felt 15 years ago when he bought his first wand. He tried a complicated spell, the patronus charm, to see if the wand would work just as well as his previous one did. Once a silver dog had burst out of the wand, he was satisfied. "It's perfect!" he said reaching into his robes for his moneybag. "How much do I owe you?"

Ollivander chuckled. "Why nothing my boy! The ministry already paid for it."

"Oh yeah. I forgot they told me about that. Well thank you again Mr. Ollivander."

"It was no trouble at all." He turned his gaze to the children. "I hope to see you three here in a couple of years." The three young friends nodded and followed Sirius out the door.

Now that they got all the important stuff out of the way, they had the rest of the day for casual shopping. The Weasley twins asked Sirius if they could go to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Sirius smiled and said yes.

On their way to the store, Harry asked Ron and Ginny, "What's Quidditch?"

Ron and Ginny looked at each other with a smirk. "Only the best sport in the world!" Ron exclaimed.

"It's a sport that takes place completely on broomsticks," Ginny continued.

"There are two teams against each other, and seven players on each team."

"Four positions though."

"The Chaser tries to throw the Quaffle, that's a big red ball, into the hoops of the other team. There are 3 chasers per team. If a chaser gets a hoop, it's 10 points."

"The keeper protects the goals from the chasers so that the other team doesn't score. There is one keeper per team."

"The Beater protects their teammates from things called Bludgers, which are enchanted balls that try to knock players off their brooms, and aim them at the other team with their bats. There are two beaters to a team."

"Finally and most importantly is the seeker, who tries to catch a small, golden, flying ball known as the golden snitch that is always flying around the pitch at a high speed. It usually takes an hour or two to find and is easy to lose. Once the snitch is caught, the game ends and the team that catches it gets 150 points."

"The team with the highest score wins, but it's usually the team that catches the snitch. That's why the seeker is so important."

"Did you get all that?"

Harry's brain was a bit fuzzy. All of that info came at him so fast, he was still processing the part about the beaters. "Uhhh, kind of," Harry said unconvincingly.

The twins laughed. "Don't worry," Ron reassured. "We'll explain it better when we get back to the Burrow."

When the group got to Quality Quidditch Supplies, there was a sign on the door.

**THE NEW CLEANSWEEP 6!**

**Can go from nought to 100 mph in less than 6 seconds!**

**Buy one today for 30% off just in time for the holiday season!**

Ron and Ginny looked as if they found the holy grail. "Amazing," Ginny said.

"I wonder if Sirius could get us one," Ron said.

Sirius heard Ron say this and walked towards the salesman. "Can I get four Cleansweep 6s?"

The salesman's eyes went wide. "Four? You realize that were talking 450 galleons even with the discount, right?"

"I know," Sirius said pulling out his galleon bag, He put 450 galleons in another bag and gave it to the salesman. The salesman wrapped up 4 brooms and shrank them. Sirius took the brooms and put them into his robe pocket. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Uhh y-yes! Thank you! Do please come again!" The shopkeeper was astounded.

Sirius stepped out of the store to see Harry, Ron, and Ginny discussing broomsticks. Sirius cleared his throat to get their attention. "I got something for each of you." He said as he pulled out the brooms.

All three children were hugging Sirius and showering him with gratitude. "This is the best day of my life!" Ron shouted.

Sirius chuckled. "Alright kids, let's go. We're losing daylight."

They shopped a little more before going to Fortescue's for some ice cream. Sirius managed to buy Harry some new clothes. Nothing too much, but a lot better than what he was wearing when he found him. He got Harry some shirts, a couple of jumpers, and a couple pairs of pants.

The ice cream had to be the best thing that Harry had ever tasted, besides Mrs. Weasley's Treacle Tart. After Fortescue's the four headed back to the Leaky Cauldron to go back to the burrow.

When they arrived at the Burrow, Ron and Ginny ran outside with their new brooms. When Harry and Sirius were alone, Sirius asked, "So what did you think?"

Harry grinned. "I loved it!" he said.

"Well just you wait. Today was just the tip of the iceberg."

**Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. Please take my poll if you haven't already.**


	8. Chapter 7: A New Friend

The past three years of nine-year-old Harry's life were some of the best that he had ever experienced. After the first trip to Diagon Alley, it was discovered that Harry, much like his father according to Sirius, was a natural born flyer. Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Sirius would have small Quidditch matches in an open field near the Burrow. Harry tried all of the positions at least once and found out that he preferred the position of seeker.

A couple weeks later, Sirius bought a house just two miles away from the Burrow. He invited Remus to stay with them, but Remus thought it would be safer for Harry if he doesn't live with them. Sirius disagreed, but understood where he was coming from. Instead, Remus found a house not even a mile away to live in.

Within three years, Harry was no longer the scrawny, underfed, shy child that Sirius and Dumbledore saved from the Dursleys. Now, thanks to Mrs. Weasley's cooking, Quidditch, and his friends, he became a healthy, happy, and confident boy who knew what it felt to be loved.

When Christmas came, so did the rest of the Weasley Clan. Harry got along with all of the Weasleys swimmingly. Percy was a bit awkward to talk with due to his pompous, somewhat uptight nature, but he still got along with him well.

On Christmas morning the next year, Harry, Sirius, and Remus visited the Weasleys just like they did last year. When everyone was opening presents, Harry received an unusual but meaningful one from the Weasleys: a spoon with his face on it. "Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, I'm afraid I don't understand," he said with a questionable look.

Mr. Weasley laughed heartily. "Well let me explain. You know that clock over there?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. The one that tells you where your kids are and how they are doing, but we don't have a clock like that in our house."

This time, Mrs. Weasley answered. "Well dear. The spoon isn't going home with you. It's going on our clock."

"From this day forward, you are now an honorary Weasley!" Mr. Weasley said proudly.

Harry had tears of joy in his eyes. He got up and hugged both Mr. and Mrs Weasley. "Thank you," he croaked. "Thank you so much."

"Think nothing of it my boy. Now come on. Let's go put this hand up on the clock." Harry and the Weasleys walked towards the clock. Mr. Weasley picked up the seven-year-old and Harry put the hand on the clock. It immediately turned to 'with loved ones.' It was the best Christmas Harry had yet.

A couple of days after Harry turned 9, Sirius and Remus got together with the Weasleys and discussed the possibility of having Harry, Ron, and Ginny attend a muggle primary school until they leave for Hogwarts. Mr. Weasley, of course, was excited about the idea. Mrs. Weasley, on the other hand, was a bit more skeptical.

"I don't know if that is the best course of action. What if they have a case of accidental magic?" Molly asked.

"It would be the same situation as if a muggleborn had a fit of accidental magic," Sirius said simply. "Come on, Molly. This would be a great way for the kids to work on their social skills."

"Please Molly?" Mr. Weasley begged. "This is the perfect opportunity to see how the muggle educational system works. Just think of the peeteeaye meetings!"

"Um, Arthur," Remus interrupted. "PTA is actually an acronym for Parent-Teacher Association."

"Really! Fascinating!" Arthur said excitedly.

"But what about the cost?" Molly asked.

"The school is funded by the taxes imposed on English citizens. There is no charge on the students though." Remus explained.

"Come on Molly, please?" Arthur begged again.

Everyone looked at Molly with anticipation. After what seemed like five minutes, Molly finally sighed, "Very well. The children may go to muggle school until they are old enough for Hogwarts."

"Perfect! I will get you the enrollment papers by next week," Remus said with a triumphant look on his face.

Sirius decided to tell Harry a week later. He was excited to see what his reaction would be. While the Weasleys were great, Harry needed to socialize with other people his age. He went into his room and saw him with his hands tenderly rubbing his jaw and moaning in pain. "Harry, are you feeling alright?"

"My tooth hurts!" He said a little whiny.

Sirius bit his lip. 'Damn!' he thought. 'I don't know anything about healing teeth.' "How bad is it?"

"It hurts a lot!"

"Don't worry, Harry! I'll be right back!" Sirius quickly ran to the fireplace and threw floo powder in the fireplace. "Remus Lupin's study!" he yelled as the fire turned green. He stuck his head into the fire and saw Remus reading a book. "Moony, I need your help."

Remus looked up from his book. "With what, Padfoot?"

"What do you know about healing spells?"

"Nothing more than you know. Why?"

"Prongslet's tooth hurts. I have no idea what to do."

"Did you call Poppy?"

"She's on holiday in Madrid, remember? St. Mungo's is out of the question as well. We would attract to much attention."

"Did you try Molly?"

"She's probably too busy with Percy. Poor kid's got Mumblemumps, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Well there's only one other option that I can see. We should take him to a muggle dentist."

Sirius looked confused. "A what?"

"A dentist. You know. The muggle doctors that tend to peoples teeth."

"Do you know where a good one is?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Bring Harry to my place and I'll drive us there."

"Alright. I'll see you in five minutes." With that, Sirius pulled his head out of the fire and walked up to Harry's room again. "Come on Harry, we're taking you to see someone to help your tooth."

"Madame Pomfrey?"

"Sorry but no. We're going to a muggle dentist that Remus knows."

Harry's eyes went wide and began to shiver. "Please no! Not the dentist!"

"Harry what's wrong with a dentist?"

"Dudley once told me that dentists rips out every tooth from your mouth with dusty pliers."

Sirius sighed. Every now and then, something leftover from Harry's stay at the Dursleys would emerge. "Harry, how many times do I have to tell you? Most if not all things that the Dursleys have told you is absolute rubbish. While I have never been to a dentist, Moony has and he trusts them just fine. Ok?"

Harry looked a bit nervous still, but slowly nodded his head and said, "Ok."

"Excellent. Now come on. Let's go floo over to Moony's house."

Ten minutes later, Harry was in the back of Remus's Car with Sirius in the front. Harry never really liked riding in a car all that much. It was too restricting to him. There isn't as much freedom as there is on a broom. "Don't worry Harry," Remus said from behind the wheel. "Just a few more minutes, and we'll be there."

Five minutes later, the three pulled into the plaza that contained a place called Granger and Granger's Dentistry. They walked into the building and found that the place was kind of empty. The only people there were the receptionist and a young, bushy-haired girl who was reading a book. "Harry, why don't you talk to that girl over there while Remus and I get everything in order." Sirius said as he and Remus walked to the receptionist.

Harry walked towards the chair next to the girl and sat down. He turned to the girl and said, "Hello."

The girl lowered the book and turned to the boy to see if he was talking to her and not someone else. To her surprise, his eyes were directed in her direction. "Um, hi."

Harry noticed that the girl looked a bit nervous talking to him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she replied shyly. "It's just that no one my age really talk to me that much."

Harry couldn't imagine why that would be. "Why not?"

"You probably can see that I like to read a lot. A lot of people like to bully me because I'm what they call a bookworm. They would take my books and hide them. Sometimes, they throw them into puddles and they get ruined.

"That's awful! Does anyone do anything about it?"

She shook her head. "No. The teachers mainly ignore their actions."

"Well do you have any friends?" When Harry saw her shake her head, he felt a weight in his stomach. "We could be friends, if you want to that is."

The girl smiled. "I'd like that. I'm Hermione by the way. Hermione Granger."

Harry smiled back at her. "It's a pleasure to meet you Hermione. I'm-"

"Harry Potter?" the doctor called from the door.

Harry looked from the doctor to Hermione. "Yeah, him." Both Harry and Hermione laughed at the interesting introduction. "Well I guess I should go."

"Don't worry. The doctor will let me in with you. He knows me." Harry smiled and followed the doctor with Hermione following him.

The doctor led the children into a room while he continued walking down the hall. Harry and Hermione continued to chat for a few minutes before the doctor came in. He was a rather tall man with brown hair. "Hello Harry. Ah, I see you've met my daughter."

Harry did a double take. "Wait, Hermione's your daughter."

Hermione started to laugh. "Well it is called 'Granger and Granger's Dentistry.' My mum's office is the next door over" she said.

Harry put his head into his hands. "I honestly didn't make that connection," He said mostly to himself.

Dr. Granger smiled and said, "Alright Harry, let's see what's wrong. Open wide please."

Ten minutes later Dr. Granger finished. "Well there weren't any cavities, but I did notice that you don't floss much. I suggest that you floss right after brushing. There were a couple of small pieces of potato chips wedged between your teeth, so that was probably what was causing you the pain. Besides that, you are good to go."

"Thank you Dr. Granger."

"It was my pleasure. Hermione, do you want to walk Harry out?"

"Yes Daddy." She replied.

The two walked out of the room and back to the sitting area to find Sirius and Remus waiting there. "Harry! How are you feeling?" Sirius asked.

Harry smiled. "Much better."

"I see you made a friend," Remus pointed out.

"This is Hermione. She's Dr. Granger's daughter."

"Well it is a pleasure to meet you Hermione," Sirius said.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you too Mr. … uh."

"Please don't bother with the mister stuff with me. Just call me Sirius. This is my friend Remus." Remus nodded at her and Hermione smiled.

"So Harry, am I going to see you at school?"

Harry didn't know what to say. He didn't go to muggle school. "Uhhh-"

"Yes you will," Sirius answered for him.

"Great!" she exclaimed. Then she turned to Harry. "I guess I'll see you around then."

"Yeah. I'll see you around." Harry told her with a warm smile on his face.

In the car, Harry asked, "Sirius, why did you say that I would see her in school? She's not a witch is she?"

"Well I don't know about that, but starting in September, you, Ron, and Ginny will be attending muggle primary school until you're old enough for Hogwarts."

"So I'll get to spend more time with Hermione?"

"That's right."

Harry grinned at this. Hermione needed a friend in school, and with him, Ron, and Ginny, she'll have three.

**A/N: I changed the time period from 1986 to 1987 in the last few chapters because they didn't match with Percy's age (since he started in 87')**


	9. Chapter 8: The Discovery

Harry would meet up with Hermione a few more times before the first day of school. Dr. and Dr. Granger arranged for them to meet in the nearby park once a week. They would talk about stories from Hermione's books and about life in general.

"Do you have other friends," Hermione asked.

"A couple," Harry replied. "It's mainly this family that we are close to. They have two kids my age and five older boys. The two that are our age, Ron and Ginny, are my best friends."

"Do you think I will ever get to meet them?"

"Oh, yeah. They'll be in our year at school. I'm sure you will get to meet them."

"Do you think we'd all get along?"

"I don't see why not. They are great people! A little odd at times, but great."

Hermione looked ecstatic at the thought of having no friends. "Well I can't wait then!"

"Maybe I could introduce you to them early, if you want to that is."

"That would be brilliant!"

"Excellent! I'll ask Sirius tonight. So, more about your book. Why are these dwarfs going to this mountain?"

"They want to take their treasure back from the dragon."

"And why do they think that this Hobbit can help them out?"

"Apparently, the wizard, Gandalf, sees something in Bilbo that none of the dwarfs do. Looks can be deceiving, you know."

'You have no idea,' Harry thought to himself.

* * *

"Come on Moony! Just a few more steps!" Sirius said from one side of the television that they were carrying.

"Easy for you to say! You're in way better shape then I am!" Moony shot back with his arms trembling.

"Oh come on! Where is that werewolf strength of yours?"

"Do you see a full moon out?! I honestly don't see why we can't just levitate this bloody thing."

"Look. You know how strict the statute of secrecy is. We have to do this the muggle way so no one sees us use our wands. Once we get inside, we can levitate this thing."

A half a minute later, The television was on the ground in the house. Sirius pulled out his wand. 'Wingardium Leviosa' he muttered and the television went airborne. Slowly, Sirius guided it to the center of the living room wall and lowered it. "And there we go. We finally have a television. Now how do you work this blasted thing?"

"In the back of the set, there is a plug. Put the plug into the socket in the wall and press the power button on the televion."

Sirius did so and the television turned on and showed an image of Clive Anderson saying, "That'll be 18 points for everybody in that game"

Sirius looked amazed. "How do you know so much about muggle technology?"

"My mother was muggleborn, remember. She insisted on having technology in the house to keep in touch with the muggle world."

"But that was years ago. I thought you would've forgotten by now."

"Not when you grew up with it. I do have to say that the picture is much better. When I still lived with Mum and Dad, it was still black and white."

Excited, Sirius ran upstairs to get Harry. He knew that Harry would love the fact that they now had a television. He poked his head into Harry's room and said, "Harry come down for a few minutes. We have to show you something."

Harry jumped off his bed and followed Sirius down the stairs. When his eyes met the sight of the television, they went wide in awe. He hasn't seen a television since he lived with the Dursleys; and even then, they would never let them watch it. "Merlin's Beard! You actually got one! It's huge!"

"I was planning on inviting the Weasleys to show it to them. Arthur is probably going to faint at the sight of it. What do you think, Harry?"

"That sounds great, but I was hoping we could also invite Hermione. She wants to meet Ron and Ginny."

Sirius bit his lip at this. He had no problem with her meeting Ron and Ginny in school, but having her meet them plus their family when they unveil one of the most used muggle devices to a wizarding family might cause some unwanted questions to be asked. "I'm not sure if that is such a good idea, Harry."

"Please Sirius? Hermione needs more than one famigliar face when we go to school. She needs to make friends before then."

Sirius looked at Harry. 'He really does have his mother's brains and her heart.' With a sigh and a smile, he said, "Okay, she can come as well. Why don't you give her parents a call?"

Harry walked into the kitchen where the telephone was and dialed the Grangers' number. After two rings he heard a voice say, "Hello. Granger Residence."

"Dr. Granger, it's me Harry."

"Ah, Harry! How are you my boy?" Dr. Granger asked.

"I'm fine sir. I was wondering if you, Dr. Granger, and Hermione would like to come over?"

"Of course. What's the occasion?"

"Well, I have a couple of friends coming over that I want Hermione to meet."

"I'm sure that Hermione would love that. Do you mind if I talk to Sirius so I know when and where to go?"

"Oh yeah, of course. Could you hold on a moment, please?" Harry put the phone on the table and hollered, "Sirius, Dr. Granger wants to talk to you!"

Sirius walked into the room and picked up the phone. He was on the phone for a good five minutes before saying goodbye and hanging up. He turned to Harry and said, "The Grangers will be here at 6:30, I'm going to go floo the Weasleys and explain the plan. You should go clean your room and hide your Puddlemere United poster and Quidditch stuff." Harry gave him a nod and ran up to the room to clean.

* * *

The fireplace roared with green flames as Ron and Ginny tumbled out of it. They stood up to find Harry, Sirius, and Remus watching their new television. "Blimey, Dad's gonna freak out when he sees this," Ron said.

"Hopefully, it won't be too bad," Remus said. "Harry here invited a friend of his over. They are muggles, so everyone has to act like they are used to muggle devices."

"Good luck," Ginny said with a smirk on her face. "Dad is still looking to find out 'the exact function of a rubber duck,' whatever that is." The five couldn't help but chuckle at Mr. Weasley's obsession of all things muggle related.

The fireplace roared with life once again and Mrs. Weasley walked out of it with Mr. Weasley close in tow. Mrs. Weasley took one look at the television and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh dear Merlin help us." She sighed

Mr. Weasley, however looked like a kid on Christmas. "Is that what I think it is?! A Vellytision! An actual Vellytision!"

"Actually Arthur," Remus said, "It is called a television. And yes it is."

"Why this is fantastic! I've never seen one so big before."

A knocking ceased all conversation. "Ah!" Sirius exclaimed. "That must be them. Why don't you all sit down while I go answer that."

Sirius walked to the front door and opened it to see Dr. Granger with his wife and fellow dentist and Hermione. "Hello Dr. Granger, Dr. Granger, Hermione."

Hermione laughed at Sirius's greeting. She has heard that joke many times before and it hasn't gotten old. "Oh Sirius, the formalities aren't necessary anymore. You can call me John and my wife's name is Rose." John said.

"It's a pleasure to finally be introduced Sirius." Rose said shaking Sirius's hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't meet you when you were at our office, but I was with a patient."

"It is no trouble at all." Sirius replied. "Why don't you three come in. Everyone is in the living room."

The Grangers nodded as they entered the house and took off their coats. Sirius took them and put them on the coat rack. The Grangers looked at their surroundings as they walked towards the living room. The house actually felt quite a bit bigger on the inside then it did on the outside. They shrugged it off though. They have been in quite a few houses with that feeling. Hermione's eyes were caught by this one picture that seemed to be moving. "What is that picture?" she asked pointing at it.

Sirius looked at what she was referring to and smiled. He walked over to it and picked it up. "This picture is of Harry when he was a baby with his parents James and Lily. I was actually the one to take the picture which is probably why I wasn't in it."

Hermione still had a puzzled look on her face. "Why are Harry and his mum and dad moving inside the picture."

Sirius's eyes went wide at that question. 'Muggles cant see movements inside of a wizard photograph,' he thought to himself.

Rose, however, simply smiled and said, "Now don't be silly, Hermione. They can't move inside of a photo. You must be seeing things."

"Actually, Rose," Sirius interrupted, "this happens more often then you think. Some people can see certain part of this picture move in a certain way. The fact that Hermione can see this shows that she has quite a brilliant and creative mind. 'Hopefully they buy that.'

John smiled at this. "Well I expect no less from my Hermione!" Hermione blushed at this and Sirius smiled, partly in relief.

When they reached the Living Room, Remus stood up and smiled. "Ah! The good doctors are here!" he exclaimed.

"Remus, you all can call us John and Rose," John said shaking his hand.

"Of course, of course." Remus turned to the Weasleys and said, "Everyone, these are the Grangers: John, Rose, and their daughter Hermione. Hermione why don't you sit with Harry, Ron, and Ginny."

Hermione nodded and sat down next to Harry and Ron. Harry smiled. "Glad you could make it Hermione," He said

Hermione smiled, "Thank you for inviting us Harry."

"It was no problem. Ron, Ginny, this is Hermione Granger. This is the girl I've been talking about."

Whenever Harry visited the Weasleys after the trip to the dentist, he would always talk about Hermione. He would tell Ron and Ginny of how lonely she has been and how kind she is. He would rant how those two wouldn't add up. He would say that even though she is a bit bookish, she should still have friends. He told them that he wanted her to be a part of their group. Ginny seemed ecstatic about having another girl in the group besides herself. Ron, however, seemed a little less happy. He didn't dislike the idea, but he was a bit hesitant about the idea.

Now, the hesitancy seemed to lessen as Ron had a small smile on his face. "Nice to meet you Hermione. I'm Ron Weasley."

"And I'm Ginny Weasley. It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you two. Um, why does it seem that your dad is obsessed with the television?"

"This is the only place he can watch it," Ginny said. "We don't have a television at home. Mum doesn't like it all that much."

They talked for another 20 minutes before Ron said, "Hey Harry, why don't we go outside and play hide and seek."

"Sounds good to me," Harry said with a grin. "How bout you two?"

"I'm in," Ginny said.

"Sounds like fun," Hermione said.

"Then it's settled. I'll go clear it with Sirius and we'll go out back." Harry said standing up.

After talking to Sirius, Harry lead Ron, Ginny, and Hermione to the backyard. The yard was huge. There were trees of all sizes, bushes, a shed, and a pond. It would be impossible not to find a hiding spot. "The one rule is to stay within 50 meters of the house." Harry said to everyone. "So who wants to be it?"

Hermione raised her hand. "I'll be it."

"Excellent. Hermione, count to 60 by that rock over there. Then try to find us." Hermione nodded and walked towards the rock. When she started counting, Harry, Ron, and Ginny began running to find a hiding spot. Harry found one up in a tree. Ron and Ginny hid together inside of a bush.

When Hermione stopped counting, she called, "Here I come!" and began the search. She decided to look for Ron first. She thought if she could find him, Ginny would be close by. After five minutes of searching, she began to feel frustrated. That is, until she heard something in a nearby bush. She walked to the bush and pulled two branches away from each other. What she found wasn't Ron, or Ginny, or even Harry; what she found was a snake. She stumbled and fell backwards onto the grass. "SNAKE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Harry heard Hermione's cry and jumped down from the tree. He saw Hermione trying to shoo the snake as she tried to back away on her back. "Hermione!" he yelled as he ran towards where Hermione was to try and get rid of the snake. Ron and Ginny, who were covered in twigs and pine needles, weren't far behind.

Hermione was freaking out. "Shoo! Go away!" she screamed waving her arms at the snake. But the snake just kept slithering towards her. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed with one final wave. Then, out of nowhere, the snake went flying away from Hermione. Hermione just stared at the spot where the snake used to be. 'Did I do that?' She asked herself in confusion. She looked up to see Harry, Ron and Ginny were staring at her with wide eyes.

**A/N: I am sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I've been very busy during the past couple of months. Hopefully I will be able to upload quicker for the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 9: A Witch

Sirius was deep in thought. This nine-year-old girl couldn't possibly see the photograph move. The only way she could see if she was… That had to be it. Hermione Granger had to be a muggleborn witch. How else was she able to see through the charm? Sirius hasn't messed up that charm since 6th year, and even then, it was a minor flaw (James' eye was still winking). Even so, there was still a chance that he did mess up or that the charm was wearing off. After all, Azkaban can leave a wizard kind of rusty. He needed evidence. Evidence that Hermione was a witch.

"Sirius… Sirius!" John shouted bringing Sirius out of his musings.

"Huh? What?" Sirius asked still a bit dazed, shaking his head like a dog. "I'm sorry. You were saying?"

"I was wondering where you got this mead. It's absolutely amazing."

"Oh. I got it at this small liquor store over in Newcastle. Not many people know about it though. If you want, I can get you a bottle or two."

"That would be just lovely, Sirius. Thank you," Rose smiled.

'_Now's as good a time as any Sirius,' _he thought to himself. "John, Rose can I ask you something about Hermione?" when both of them said yes, Sirius continued, "Has anything weird ever happen whenever Hermione gets scared, angry, or overemotional?"

John narrowed his eyes a bit. "Exactly why do you want to know this?"

"It's just that strange things have been happening with Harry whenever he gets moody. I wanted to know if this was happening to Hermione as well." It wasn't a complete lie. He just left out a few details.

John opened his mouth to say something but Rose beat him to it. "Well now that you mention it, there was this one time with the bookshelf. She was trying to get her favorite book from the top shelf when we were in the other room about three years ago. We heard a scream, so we ran into the study. We saw Hermione falling in slow motion, literally."

Arthur started coughing like crazy. "Sorry," he said a little horsely. "The mead got stuck in my throat. Please continue."

"It was like time was slowing down for her but everything else was happening at normal pace. We didn't think much about it at the time because we had very little sleep the night before and we thought it was just our minds playing tricks on us."

Remus stood up and turned to Sirius. "Sirius, can I talk to you in private please?" Sirius nodded and stood up to follow Remus.

They walked until Remus stopped in a hallway with a window showing the backyard. Sirius noticed the disapproving look on Remus but thought that he could lighten up the mood if just slightly. "Nice people, eh Moony?"

"What the bloody hell are you thinking?!" Remus yelled.

"What do you mean?"

"You are suggesting to a muggle family that their daughter is a witch! You realize that if you are wrong, we'd have breached the Statute of Secrecy!"

"But she is a Witch! I know it!"

"And how exactly do you know?"

"She saw the picture of James, Lily, and Harry move."

Remus' eyes grew wide. "Move? A-as in"

"As in that the body parts of all three of them were in motion."

"Well that could just be the charm being old and is wearing off." Remus said trying to think of a logical explanation besides magic.

"Then why couldn't John or Rose see it?"

"Hermione is a child. Children are known to have an overactive imagination."

"Then how did she slow her fall two years ago if she isn't a witch?"

Remus tried to think for an answer but couldn't. It did make sense that she was a witch, be he really didn't want to risk revealing the magical world to a bunch of muggles on the off chance that she isn't. "Look Padfoot, I just think we need a little more evidence before we tell them anythi-"

"SNAKE!" yelled a voice that sounded like Hermione's. Sirius and Remus charged towards the window to see that a snake was slithering its way towards Hermione.

They ran as fast as they could to the back door. They passed their guests and Sirius yelled without ceasing his sprint, "Follow us! Hermione's being attacked!" The Grangers and the Weasleys immediately stood up and chased Sirius and Remus to the back door.

When all of them made it outside, Sirius and Remus reached into their pockets for their wands; however, what happened next caused everyone who saw's jaws to drop. With a great wave of her arms, Hermione sent the Snake flying. Sirius turned to Remus and whispered, "Is that evidence enough?"

* * *

Hermione looked at what she just did and began to cry. _'Why did it have to happen here and now. Just when I was making friends.'_ She forced herself up and ran past Harry, Ron, and Ginny and into the woods. All the three could do was watch in shock.

The first to come out of shock was Harry. "We have to find her," he said to the twins. With a nod, all three split up into the forest to find their sad friend.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled. He hated going into the forest. There were spiders in the forest and Ron was afraid of spiders more than anything; but he liked Hermione, and there were very few things that he wouldn't do for people that he likes. "Hermione!" he yelled again as he went deeper and deeper into the forest. Then he heard something. It was the soft sobbing of a young girl. Ron followed the sobbing until he finally found Hermione crying. Ron sat down and asked, "Hermione, what's wrong?"

Hermione kept her head down and said, "You don't want to hang out with me. None of you do."

"Of course we do."

"No you don't!" Hermione shouted raising her head and revealing her puffy tear-stained eyes. "What happened with the snake happens more often than you think. Strange things happen every time I get scared or really upset."

"So?"

"So?! I'm a freak!"

Ron flinched. If there was one word that he hated, it was freak. He still remembered how Harry didn't even know his own name because the only name he was ever called by his "relatives" was freak. "You are not a freak."

"Of course I am!"

"No you're not! You are as much of a freak as I am. What you did wasn't weird; it was magic."

"But magic isn't real."

"Then how do you explain what happened with the snake." Hermione opened her mouth to say something but closed it when she couldn't think of an answer. "I know what I'm talking about. I'm a wizard. My whole family is and so is Harry. And you, Hermione, are a witch."

Hermione stopped crying as Ron confessed to about magic. "A-a witch? So everything from the fairy tales is true?"

"Well, I don't read a lot of muggle fairy tales b-"

"I'm sorry, but what is a muggle?"

"Oh yeah. A muggle is a what we call people who aren't magical. Anyways, the stuff from muggle stories I've read exist, but aren't exactly accurate. Mermaids and dwarves aren't that cute and fairies don't really grant wishes. They're actually quite annoying really."

Hermione couldn't help but giggle at Ron's attempt at a joke. "How come you, Ginny, and Harry don't have random outbursts of magic?"

"Oh we do. Whenever we are very scared, upset, or super mad, we do what we call accidental magic. It's normal for all pre-Hogwarts (that's a school for magic) witches and wizards. Now I promise to tell you more but I think we should go back."

Hermione nodded and stood back up. "Ron?" she asked as the two walked back to the backyard.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Thank you."

Ron smiled. "Your welcome."

* * *

Sirius couldn't help but grin. Harry was getting along so well with Hermione, but once he started Hogwarts, he'd probably never talk to her again. Now that would not be a problem because Hermione will be in Hogwarts with him and Ron and Ginny. Sirius' grin didn't go unnoticed by John and Rose though; and frankly, they didn't like it. "Why are you grinning?" John asked disapprovingly. "My daughter almost got bitten by a snake and ran into the forest!"

"John, I beg you to relax," Sirius replied. "I warded the forest so people under a certain age can't get too far in. I am sure that one of them will find them. The reason why I am grinning is because of what Hermione did to the snake."

"Why would you grin at that?" Rose asked.

"Because it proves my suspicions and hopes to be true. Your daughter is a witch."

"Rose looked outraged. "How dare you say such a thing about my daughter! And here I thought that you were dec-"

"No no no Rose! You don't understand!" Remus interrupted. "We mean this quite literally. Hermione is a muggleborn witch."

"A what?" John asked.

"A muggleborn is a witch or wizard who was born to two non-magical parents, or muggles as we call them."

"So let me get this straight." John said pinching the bridge of his nose. "You want us to believe that our daughter has magical powers?" after seeing both Sirius and Remus nod, he said, "Blasphemy! All of this is utter nonsense!"

"I was afraid you would act this way." Sirius said. "Here let me give you a demonstration." Before the Grangers' and Weasleys' very eyes, Sirius disappeared, and in his place was a big, black, shaggy dog. John's eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head. When she saw Sirius transform back, Rose fainted in shock. "So John, do you still think this is utter nonsense?"

"Maybe this isn't as blasphemous as I previously believed."

"How about we bring Rose back inside and we can continue this conversation there. Molly, Arthur, can you two stay out here and look out for the kids?" When the three saw them nod, Sirius and John proceeded to carry Rose back into the house.

Arthur looked at Molly and asked, "Do you think I can ask them about the function of a rubber duck now?"

* * *

Ron stopped walking when they got close to the house. "FOUND HER!" he yelled to nowhere in particular. Within a few minutes Harry and Ginny came running and hugged Hermione.

"Thank Merlin you're all right," Harry said in relief. "Let's get you back to the house."

As they were walking, Ron and Hermione were explaining what happened. Harry and Ginny had predictable reactions when they found out that Hermione called herself a freak. "Hermione, never call yourself a freak! I have no idea how you even came to that conclusion." Ginny said.

"Well that's what this kid at my school calls me."

Harry stopped in his tracks. "Who is this kid?" he asked hoping that the one person he was thinking of wasn't the same kid.

Hermione let out a sigh. "His name is Dudley Dursley."

**A/N: Again I'm sorry I updated so late. I'm not going to promise that I will update soon in case that I don't but know that I will not give up this story. I hope you like this chapter. Please Review and check out my other story, The Switch. I want to know if I should continue that one or not.**

**Also, does anyone have any ideas for what should happen to Dudley when the four get to school? Please leave any ideas you may have in the review section.**


	11. Chapter 10: The First Day

Shock. That was the only word that could describe what Harry was feeling. Dudley Dursley, the boy who helped his Aunt and Uncle make his life a living hell, was bullying his friend. "I can't believe it," he said to no one in particular. "Dudley Dursley."

Hermione looked confused as she saw the shock on Harry's face and the anger in the Weasley twins' faces. "Wait. Do you three know Dudley?" She asked.

"We don't know him personally," Ginny replied in a venomous tone, "But he and Harry have a history."

Hermione looked at Harry who now had his head hung down. "He is my cousin. I was forced to live with him and his parents until Sirius and Remus took me to live with them. They hated every single thing about me because of what I am. In fact, they hate everything that doesn't fit their image of, "normal," which to them is a very strict definition."

Hermione was horrified at what she had heard. She was only teased by Dudley with the occasional theft of lunch money, but this was way beyond what she had to deal with. "Oh Harry, I am so sorry. If I kn-"

"No. Don't be sorry, Hermione. There's no reason to be. Everything turned out all right for me. The problem is what he is doing to you. I promise you that once we get to school, all four of us will teach Dudley a lesson."

"Count me in!" Ron said enthusiastically.

"Absolutely!" Ginny agreed.

Hermione couldn't help but smile. "Thank you Harry. Thank you all really."

"Anything for a friend," Ginny replied.

A couple of tears escaped Hermione's eyes. '_Friends_.'

* * *

It was a rather cloudy day on the first day of school for the four. As they walked into Winston Churchill Primary School, Ron and Ginny couldn't help but constantly look around. There were lights brighter than any lights they've ever seen (even brighter than those at Harry's house), little rectangular electrical boxes attached to the ceiling with a lens in front of it, and what looked like a megaphone attached to the walls. Harry was amused because he knew how little they went into the muggle world, but Hermione, who was still new to the whole magic thing, was confused. "Why are they so amazed by the security cameras and loud speaker?" she whispered to Harry.

"People who grew up in the Wizarding World don't really know much about muggle technology. Wizards are a bit behind in that department, but most of them don't see any reason to start using muggle technology, except for Mr. Weasley of course. He is very fascinated by muggle objects of all kinds."

"So that's why Mr. Weasley asked Dad about the rubber duck."

Harry looked like he was holding in a roar of laughter. "That would probably be why," he said trying to keep himself from making a scene.

"Well this is the room." Hermione said looking at the sign on the door. "Room 107 with Mrs. Smith."

They walked into the room and found four seats in the middle of the classroom open. They took their seats and waited for the teacher. Just four minutes later, the teacher walked in with a rather large handbag and wrote her name on the chalkboard. She was an old woman with black hair combed tightly into a bun, and a stern face. "Good morning class," she said. After hearing everyone say good morning back, she continued, "My name is Mrs. Smith and I will be your teacher for the year. Now I will take everyone's attendance."

After roll, she began speaking again holding a small book. "Today, we are going to begin reading _Charlotte's Web_." When Mrs. Smith held up the book, Ron couldn't help but shiver at the picture of the spider. "I hope everyone is fami-"

She was interrupted by the heavy footsteps of a rather large (widthwise) out-of-breath boy who had just entered the room. "You must be Mr. Dursley, are you not?" The boy simply nodded his head. "I hope next time you wear a watch so that you may arrive here on time." She said glaring at him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I got lost," he said without looking very sorry at all.

"Then perhaps a map is in order. I sincerely doubt that you need one to find your seat." The whole class laughed as Dudley grumbled his way to his seat. "As I was saying before, I hope you are familiar with this _Charlotte's Web_ because we are going to be spending the next two weeks reading it. "I'd like you all to break off into groups of five and start reading. Please decide how you are going to divide the reading on your own."

With a wave all the students broke off into groups. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione gabbed their books and sat back to their seats. Unfortunately, Dudley was waddling right towards them with the book in his hands. He sat down right next to Ron and said, "Well this shouldn't be too hard. Granger will read the whole book by tomorrow, and give us all notes. Isn't that right Bookworm?"

"Leave her alone Dursley!" Ginny growled.

"Aw, what's a matter, Red? You actually like bookworm over here?"

"We all do. It's you that we got the problem with!" Ron spat.

"Looks like after school, I'm going to have to teach you some manners." Dudley scowled.

"You? Teaching Manners? Ha! I've seen you eat dinner and you have the manners of a pig!" Harry said with acid laced in his voice.

Dudley's face was distorted in thought. "How do you know what I'm like during supper?"

"Tell me Diddydums, who cooks the bacon better, me or your mummy."

And with that, Dudley understood, and he was far from happy. "I remember you! You used to live with us until the night Dad was arrested! You're probably the reason Dad was arrested!" he growled turning redder and redder.

"And what makes you think it was my fault. Your father was a brutish monster!"

"Everything weird and unnatural that ever happened in the house was your fault! I don't know who's the bigger freak, you or Granger!"

That did it. If there was one name Harry couldn't stand, one name that Harry would lose all control over, it was Freak Harry tried hard to control himself physically, but his magic was another story. Out of nowhere, Dudley jumped out of his chair with a yelp and covered his bum. What he felt there was a pig's tail. Dudley started to scream in a panic running around the room. Mrs. Smith stopped him and said sternly, "Mr. Dursley, I understand one's passion for a good book, but disrupting the class is simply going too far. I'm afraid I have to bring you to the headmaster's office."

"But, but…"

"No buts. You are to come with me immediately!"

Dudley hung his head and followed Mrs. Smith out the door. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny looked at each other with a grin. "This might not be that bad of a year after all," Ginny said.

* * *

Dinner in the Weasley household was always a social event. It was where all of the Weasleys could talk about their day, discuss their problems, and bond altogether; however, now that Fred and George were starting their first year of Hogwarts, supper has become much more quiet. Yes the fear of a beetle showing up in someone's soup was gone, but it still felt weird.

While Ron and Ginny were away at their first day of muggle school, Arthur, who was enjoying his day off, approached Molly in the kitchen, who was baking biscuits, an said, "You know Molly, I've been doing some thinking. Harry has been friends with Ron and Ginny for a while now. And now that Hermione is friends with them, she's going to have to adjust to the wizarding world fairly soon. Maybe if we invite the Grangers over for dinner, all of us, Sirius, Remus, and Harry included, can teach her more about the wizarding world."

Molly smiled at her husband of 20 years. "That sounds lovely Arthur. Why don't you go invite the Grangers? When the biscuits are done, I'll floo over to Sirius and invite them." Arthur gave Molly a kiss on the cheek and walked out to the backyard where he disapparated to the Granger's house.

* * *

"My god Arthur, this place is amazing!" John gasped looking around as he walked into the Burrow with his wife and daughter.

Arthur smiled at the complement. "Well John, it's not much, but it's home."

"Not much?! This place is great! I mean look at that!" Rose exclaimed pointing at the self-washing dishes. "I would love it if my dishes did that!"

"Well, magic is an amazing thing," he replied.

They continued walking until they reached the dinner table where everyone was seated. John and Rose sat between Remus and Molly while Hermione sat between Ron and Harry. They all feasted on Roast Beef, Chicken Pot Pie, Mashed Potatoes, and (Harry's favorite) Treacle Tart. A few minutes into the meal, Molly asked the children, "How was your first day of muggle school?"

"It was good for the most part," Ron replied.

"There was just one problem," Ginny continued.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And what may that be?"

Harry let out a great sigh. "Dudley Dursley is in our class."

Sirius dropped his fork in shock. "Dudley Dursley?! As in Vernon and Petunia's son?! I thought he lived in Surrey!"

"Well apparently he lives near here now."

"Please tell me you didn't do anything you're going to regret," Remus said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well," Hermione started, "Dudley called both me and Harry a freak, and Harry… well."

"I accidentally gave Dudley a pig tail," Harry finished

Remus tried hard to keep a stern face, but it was difficult (especially when Sirius was laughing like there was no tomorrow). "Harry, you have to work on keeping control, these types of things could expose the wizarding world to the muggles.

"But here's the weird thing," Ginny intervened. "The teacher made it seem like it was Dudley's doing. She said, "I understand one's passion for a good book, but disrupting the class is simply going too far," And took him from the room. Thirty minutes later, she brought him back like nothing happened, tail-free."

Sirius, after calming down, began to think about this situation. "Maybe the teacher is actually a witch."

"That's always a possibility," Arthur said. "Some witches and wizards like to leave the wizarding world behind in favor of a quiet life among muggles. They are mainly muggleborns that do this though and it doesn't happen often."

The conversation ended there as everyone accepted Sirius' proposal. They continued eating for a few minutes. Ron then suggested that they all should go flying on their brooms. Harry and Ginny were all for it, but Hermione's eyes went wide at the mention of flying brooms.

"You mean brooms actually do fly?" she asked.

"Yeah, but we use them mainly for sports and fun," Harry explained as the four walked out the back door. "You'll see."

* * *

As Sirius, Remus, Molly, and Arthur sat down in the sitting room with John and Rose waiting for the tea, an owl flew into the room carrying a letter in its beak. Rose's reaction was to be expected: Some screaming and falling out of her chair. "Rose relax," Arthur said trying to calm her down. "Owls are how Witches and Wizards get mail around." He looked closely at the owl. "It looks like the owl that Percy likes to use." He took the letter from the owl's beak and it flew out of the house. "Why, it is from Percy!"

"Oooohhh Arthur read it!" Molly squealed. "I bet Percy wrote all about the twins sorting!"

And so Arthur began to read the letter.

_Dearest Family,_

_ I am pleased to announce that Fred and George were both sorted into Gryffindor. That being said, I must address my disappointment at them for insisting on being sorted at the same exact time. Professor McGonagall was forced to put the hat on both of them at once. Why would the twins break such a precedent? Not even Uncle Fabian and Gideon were that audacious when they were sorted if I am to understand Mother's stories correctly._

_ After the sorting ceremony, Professor Dumbledore made a few announcements that were a bit out of the ordinary. My new Muggle Studies professor, Professor Quirell, is only going to be teaching for one more year before he takes a year of absence to go abroad. It is a shame. I have heard that he is a brilliant man._

_ Also, apparently Professor McGonagall will not be teaching Transfiguration classes until four in the afternoon as she has things to do that are off school grounds. All of the classes that aren't being taught by Professor McGonagall are going to be taught by Professor Dumbledore. I must say that I am rather intrigued on how those classes are going to be._

_ After our last Defense Against the Dark Arts professor fell ill with Dragonpox, we received a new professor this year. His name is Arculus Ire and, as much as I despise saying this about a professor, he doesn't seem like a confident professor. I have a feeling by next year we will have a new professor._

_ Well I must end this letter for I fear that the twins are scheming something._

_ With Love_

_ Percy._

"Wait a minute," Sirius said scratching his head. "Did you say that Minerva is off the grounds until four in the afternoon?"

"That's right," Arthur nodded. "Why?"

"I just wanted to know if I heard that right," Sirius replied. '_Minnie, you never cease to surprise me._'

**A/N: I really wanted to have Dudley appear one more time before they go to Hogwarts. I hope you all like what I did with "Mrs. Smith". Now here is my question for all of you: Should I do one more chapter with Harry and Co. in Muggle School, or should i cover the Hogwarts Letters and Diagon Alley next. Also, if i do go with Muggle school, please give me some ideas. Please review!**


	12. Chapter 11: Comedy & Tragedy

It was 20 minutes after midnight and Sirius was fast asleep. This gave Harry the perfect opportunity. Harry carefully crept down the staircase and into the basement. On the wall was a painting of an old piece of parchment that only had one thing written on it: 'Password?' As softly as he could, he whispered, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." With that the painting opened. 'Sirius should really come up with new passwords,' he thought to himself as he looked into the compartment that the painting was hiding. In it was exactly what Harry was looking for: Sirius' Auror-issued invisibility cloak. He knew that the invisibility cloaks used by the Aurors were probably some of the best quality invisibility cloaks out there. Well there was also his Dad's cloak, but he had no idea where that was.

Harry grabbed the cloak, quietly shut the painting, and went back upstairs to his room. As he got into bed Harry smiled. 'Tomorrow's Sirius' day off,' he thought. 'He won't be looking for the cloak. This prank is going to go swimmingly.'

* * *

It was a particularly warm May day and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were waiting in the school cafeteria for Harry to show up. It was odd that he wasn't there. His knapsack was in his usual spot at the table but he himself was nowhere in sight. "I don't get it," Ron said. "Where is he?"

"He's probably using the loo, Ron," Hermione said.

"What for ten minutes?" he countered

"Well can you think of any other explanation?"

"Will you two please stop arguing?" Ginny asked rubbing her temples. "I'm sure that Harry will be here soon."

Two minutes later with Harry still nowhere in sight, Dudley waddled to where the three were sitting with a wicked grin on his fat face. "Well well well. The weirdo squad without their fearless leader."

"Shove off Dursley," Ron said glaring at Dudley.

"So where is Potter, eh? Finally grew a brain and decided to leave you three?"

"Leave us alone!" Hermione demanded.

"Aw what's the matter Granger? Upset that your boyfriend's gone?"

"Maybe you didn't hear my friend or brother," Ginny said almost calmly but still stared daggers at Dudley. Then she nearly shouted "Leave us the bloody hell alone!" Lucky for her, the lunch monitors couldn't hear her say this due to the general volume of the room.

"Tsk tsk. I didn't realize that freaks used that kind of language." Dudley laughed to himself until all of the sudden, he fell to the ground as if an invisible force pushed him. He looked around to see who pushed him, but no one was close enough to actually do the deed. He tried to get up but he felt one of his arms being pushed causing him to fall to the floor again. He finally managed to get back up and looked at the three. Hermione looked like she was trying to hold in her laughter. Ron and Ginny made no such attempt. "You three are doing this, aren't you?"

I have no idea what you're talking about," Hermione said with a giggle. Dudley started to walk away before slipping and once again ended up on the floor. The three could not stop laughing at Dudley's humiliation.

Ron looked down during his laughter and saw a face. He stopped laughing. It was Harry. He shook his head over to Hermione and Ginny indicating Ron to get their attention. "Uh, Gin, Hermione, you might want to look down for a second."

Still laughing the girls looked under the table where their laughter ended and their jaws dropped. "Harry?" they both said in shock.

Harry just smiled and whispered, "I'll explain later."

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was not looking forward to her present task. She saw the fiasco that happened in the school cafeteria. She saw Harry reveal himself under the table (thankfully she was the only one to see it). She understood more than anyone else that kids need to be kids and playing pranks is part of it (she had to deal with the Marauders for seven years), but what Harry did could have exposed the Wizarding World to muggles. Accidental magic she could understand, but this was just reckless.

Minerva walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A few moments later, a rather sleepy-looking Sirius Black opened door. "Minerva. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" He said trying to hold in a yawn.

"My apologies if I interrupted you during a nap Sirius, but I must speak to you about something."

"Of course 'Mrs. Smith'."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "So you figured it out."

Sirius let out a small chuckle. "It wasn't hard."

"Well I'm afraid that is why I am here. It's about your godson."

Sirius' eyes went wide. "There's not something wrong with him is there?"

"Perhaps we should go inside."

* * *

As Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were walking home, Harry explained to them what his plan was and all the steps he took to accomplish it. Ron and Ginny thought it was the greatest thing ever. Hermione, however, was shaking her head disapprovingly. "Why would you do that? What if you got caught? Isn't there a law saying that you aren't allowed to use magic around muggles? Besides, what would Sirius say?"

"Hermione relax," Ron said. "No one saw Harry in the cloak. That's the point of an invisibility cloak. By the way Harry, you are so lucky that Sirius is an Auror."

Harry smiled at this. "Besides, Sirius loves a good prank. So if he finds out, no big deal, right?"

As he said that, he looked over at his house and saw that Sirius and Mrs. Smith were standing by the mailbox. "Harry!" he hollered with a scowl on his face. "Could we get a word with you? Alone?"

The sternness of Sirius' voice made Harry a bit nervous. The fact that Mrs. Smith was there too wasn't helping the matter either. "Uh, I guess I'll see you guys later."

"Good luck Harry," Ginny said sensing things were going to get ugly. "By the looks of things, you're going to need as much of it as possible." With that, the three walked away leaving Harry to meet his fate.

Harry walked to Sirius and Mrs. Smith who led him inside the house. When Sirius closed the door, he turned to Harry and shouted, "What the bloody hell were you thinking?!"

"I just pulled a simple prank, that's all," he defended himself.

"No Harry. If it was a simple prank, I wouldn't be this mad if mad at all. Not only did you steal my cloak, you nearly exposed the wizarding world to muggles!"

"I'm sorry alri- hang on. Why are we talking about this in front of Mrs. Smith?"

"Because Mrs. Smith isn't really a muggle. This is Professor Minerva McGonagall from Hogwarts. She was supposed to watch over you kids for this year and make sure you're alright, but it seems that she also needs to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"Why are you so mad now? You weren't mad when I gave Dudley a tail."

"Because I knew that was an accident. This time you knowingly and purposely used magical means to harass a muggle! As your guardian, the Ministry would see me responsible and I could possibly be contained for reckless parenting! Do you want that?!"

Harry hung his head in shame. "No."

"I didn't think so. Now I want you to go to your room and really think about what you did." Harry nodded and started for his room until Sirius added, "Also, as punishment, no flying for two weeks."

Harry was flabbergasted. "But-"

"No buts," Sirius interrupted. "Maybe this'll make you think the next time you do something so foolish. I'm not doing this because I like punishing you. I'm doing this to teach you a le-"

Sirius was interrupted by the fire turning green and Mr. Weasley's head appearing in it. He looked rather panicked and out of breath. "Sirius, are you there?!"

Sirius looked at the fireplace and then back to Harry. "We'll talk more about this later. Please go to your room." Harry nodded and walked to his room with his head hung low. Sirius knelt by the fireplace. "Arthur, what's wrong?"

"It the Lovegood house! There was an explosion and the entire house is in flames!"

Sirius was in shock but forced himself to recover quickly. "I'm on my way!" he said as he got up and ran out of the house. He turned around to face McGonagall and said, "Can you please watch Harry while I'm gone?" When he saw her nod her head, he disapparated to appear in front of the Lovegood house to find it engulfed in a blazing inferno.

He pointed his wand to the door and shouted 'AGUAMENTI' producing a strong jet of water. The water hit the door with such intensity that not only did the fire on it go out, but the door was pushed off its hinges giving Sirius entrance to the house. He shot water wherever he deemed necessary in order to find any of the Lovegoods.

After two minutes of searching, Sirius heard what sounded like the coughing of a little girl. He followed the sound to what seemed to be a lab of sorts that had cauldron shrapnel everywhere. Inside the lab contained a young blond-haired girl kneeling over a body. The body of Europa Lovegood. The little girl, Luna if Sirius' memory served right, was crying and coughing as she tried to wake her mother up. Sirius ran to Luna and yelled loud enough so she could hear him, "We need to get out of here! Follow me!"

"What about Mummy?!" she said looking at Sirius with tear stained eyes. Sirius took Europa, threw her over his shoulder and started for the room's exit with Luna in tow until the exit collapsed on itself.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius swore in between coughs. Then he had an idea. If he couldn't go out the regular exit, he'll just have to make one instead. 'I just hope the house will hold up long enough,' he thought. He pointed his wand at a wall with a small window on it and shouted, 'REDUCTO!' A huge chunk of the wall was blasted into nothing and Sirius and Luna ran out of the burning house.

Sirius gently placed Europa down onto the ground and put two fingers against her neck. Nothing. She was dead. He turned to Luna, who was breathing heavily, and solemnly said, "I'm so sorry Luna. She's gone." Luna stayed silent. She walked over to her mother's body, knelt down, and hugged her as she cried. She cried harder than she had ever cried before. All Sirius could do as an Auror was give her a shoulder to cry on.

* * *

A funeral was a foreign concept for Harry. Yes his parents were dead but he couldn't remember their deaths that clearly. This girl saw her mother die just a couple days ago. Harry was never close to the Lovegood family, but the Weasleys were, especially Ginny. When neither Harry nor Ron was available to play, Ginny would often go over to the Lovegood house to play with Luna.

As Luna's Father Xenophilius, who was away on business at the time of the explosion, read the eulogy, Harry looked at Luna who was sitting next to an upset Ginny. She was staring into space emotionless. Her eyes were void of any feeling. When someone would try to talk to her, she wouldn't respond or even pay any attention to the person. The only signs that she was still alive were that she was breathing and conscious.

As Harry looked at Luna, he felt a pang of grief in his heart, a feeling that he has never truly experience for. It was grief for his own parents. At least Luna knew her mother and still has her father. All Harry will ever have are stories told by people who knew them before he was born. It became too much for Harry to handle and he began to cry. He cried for Luna who saw the death of her mother. He cried for his parents whom he will never know. He cried for what he recklessly did to Dudley out of arrogance.

During the reception, Harry went up to Sirius and hugged him. "I'm so sorry Sirius!" He said in between sobs. "I really am!"

Sirius embraced his godchild and whispered, "I know you are Pup. I know you are."

**A/N: I am so sorry this took so long. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner. The next chapter will have the Hogwarts letters, finally.**


	13. Chapter 12: Hogwarts Letter

The 11th birthday for a young witch or wizard is probably one of the most important days of his or her life. On that day, a letter would come with a very specific address containing one of the best letters one could ask for: their Hogwarts letter.

On July 31st 1991, Harry woke up to see that on his nightstand was a letter of the very same description. He picked it up in anticipation and read the front.

Harry J. Potter

The second bedroom

Marauder Manor

Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon

Harry ran out of bed and down the stairs yelling, "It came! It came!" He entered the kitchen to see Sirius and Remus enjoying a cup of tea. "Sirius, Remus, it came!"

Remus faked a confused look. "What came Harry?"

"My Hogwarts letter. It's finally here!"

"Really," Sirius said. "Then that must mean that it's your birthday! Happy Birthday Harry!"

"And a special one too," Remus added. "Go on Harry! Open it up!"

Harry opened up the letter and read it aloud.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"July 31? But that's today!"

Sirius chuckled. "Then you better hurry up and write your response. After breakfast, we'll go to Diagon Alley to get your equipment."

Harry looked at the shops as he, Sirius, and Remus walked passed them. No matter how many times Harry goes to Diagon Alley, it always turns out to be an extraordinary experience.

As they came closer to Gringotts, they spotted a Giant of a man with a small bag in his hand. "Merlin's Beard!" Sirius shouted. "Hagrid, is that you?"

Hagrid took a look at the three and smiled. "Sirius! Remus! Well I'll be! How've ye been?"

"Great. I'm just taking Harry here to get his school supplies."

"Ah 'Arry. Las' I saw yeh, you were jus' small enough ter fit in the palm of my hand. Now look at yeh. Spittin' image of yer father. 'Cept for yer eyes. Those are yer mum's."

Harry blushed slightly and stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you Mr. Hagrid," he said rather nervously due to Hagrid's intimidating height.

"Ah none o' that Mr. stuff. Jus' call me Hagrid. Everyone does." Hagrid said joviantly while pulling Harry into a hug instead of just shaking his hand.

"So Hagrid, what brings you to Diagon Alley?" Remus asked.

"Oh! I'm jus' pickin' up something for Professor Dumbledore," Hagrid said simply.

"What did you have to pick up?" Sirius asked curiously.

Hagrid shook his head. "Can't tell yeh that. Very Secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell."

Sirius could tell that Hagrid was feeling uncomfortable. "Ok then. Well I'll see you around Hagrid." Hagrid smiled and went on his way.

After getting some gold from Gringotts, Sirius asked Harry, "So what's first on the list?"

Harry took out the list and proceeded to read it.

**Uniform**

First year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

**Course Books**

All students should have a copy of each of the following

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_

by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory_

by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_

by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions_

by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

by Quentin Trimble

**Other Equipment**

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

The last part dampened Harry's mood slightly. "So I can't bring my Cleansweep with me to Hogwarts?"

"Sorry Harry," Sirius said. " We had to go by the Same rules when we were your age. Why don't we go take care of your robes first?"

The three made their way to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. They walked in to find Madam Malkin struggling with a blond boy who wouldn't stop complaining. "I swear if you stab me with that needle one more time, my father will have this place shut down!" he shouted at her.

"Well if you would just stand still, I wouldn't be stabbing you!" she retorted.

'What a brat,' Harry thought to himself.

"Boy, Lucius' son sure is a piece of work, huh Moony?" Sirius whispered to Remus.

"That he is Padfoot. That he is."

After the blond boy stormed out of the store without even paying attention to Madam Malkin's next patron, Harry stood on the stool while Mamdam Malkin figured out what size robes to put him in. Harry didn't understand why the blond boy was throwing such a fit. Not once did he feel a needle prick him.

After paying for the robes they went into Florish and Blotts to get Harry's books. Then Remus left Sirius and Harry saying that he has to go to a certain store for something.

After the books Sirius and Harry walked past a group of kids surrounding Quality Qudditch Supplies. "I can't believe it!" One kid said.

"The new Nimbus 2000 is out!" Said another.

"Fastest broom on the market!" Said a third.

"But look at the price tag!" The first kid pointed out. "There's no way Mum would buy it for us." Part of Harry wanted to go into the store and look at it, but he knew that even if he did get one, he wouldn't be allowed to bring it to Hogwarts. Plus he was happy with his Cleansweep.

Walking past the other shops, Sirius brought Harry into Ollivander's to get Harry his wand. Mr. Ollivander took a look at Harry and smiled. "I was hoping to see you come into my store again soon. A few days ago I sold to your two friends their first wands. Ronald Weasley was Willow, 14 inches with a Unicorn Hair core and Ginevra was Hazel, 10 inches with a Dragon Heartstring core. Please raise your wand arm please."

Harry raised his right arm and a tape measure on the table came to life as it measured every measurable distance on his body. His arm, his height, the distance between his nostrils, everything. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

After the tape measure was done measuring, Mr. Ollivander brought out a wand. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and Flexible. Just take it and give it a wave." Harry took the wand and gave it a flick and… broke a vase. "Apparently not," Mr. Ollivander said almost to himself as he took the wand right out of Harry hand. He took another one and gave it to Harry. "Maple and Phoenix Feather. Seven Inches. Quite Whippy. Try – " Harry waved it and accidentally disarmed himself. "No! No! Definitely not! Here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out." Harry barely lifted the wand before Mr. Ollivander took it out of hand.

This went on for about a good half an hour, and with each wand that Harry tried, the happier Mr. Ollivander became. "Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now – yes, why not – unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand and felt a warmth surround him with his fingers being its epicenter. He gave the wand a wave and red and gold sparks shot out of the wand. Sirius smiled knowingly that Harry just found his wand.

"Oh bravo Mr. Potter! Very good!" Mr. Ollivander cried. Then he lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Curious though. How very Curious."

Mr. Ollivander put the wand back into the box still muttering curious. "Excuse me sir," Harry said bringing him out of his musings, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander looked at Harry with a blank expression on his face. I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. For example, Your father had mahogany and Phoenix Feather, eleven inches and pliable. A good wand for transfiguration. Your mother had willow and unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches and swishy. A good wand for charm work. You can probably tell that I know almost everything about every wand I have ever sold." Harry nodded and Mr. Ollivander continued. "As I was saying, it just so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why its brother gave you that scar."

Harry stiffened at the revelation. His wand was the brother of the wand of his parents' murderer. It was not a fact that you could just shrug off. Sirius also seemed uncomfortable with the new information he had just learned. "Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do… Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things – terrible yes, but great."

Harry gulped and gave Mr. Ollivander seven galleons for the wand and walked out of the store with the wand. "Is he usually that creepy? He didn't seem so when I was with you when you got your wand."

Sirius shook his head. "No, he isn't usually like this. He's usually a bit odd with how he remembers every wand he owns but nothing like this. I think he was a bit astonished by the coincidence."

"Is it coincidence though?"

Sirius was silent for a few seconds. "Everything happens for a reason Harry, but just because you and Voldemort share brother wands doesn't mean that you are like him. Hell, it probably means you are nothing like him." Harry nodded but still looked unsure. "I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Why don't we meet back up with Remus and grab some ice cream at Fortescue's?"

They found Remus, who took the time that he had collecting the rest of Harry's supplies, right outside of Potage's Cauldron Shop. The three made their way to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where Harry had a large Chocolate and Raspberry ice cream with chopped nuts.

It was nearly sunset when they finished everything they had to do. Harry started to walk towards The Leaky Cauldron when Sirius shouted, "Where are you going?"

Harry turned around. "To The Leaky Cauldron."

"Why? We're apparating home."

Harry groaned. "Can't we just use the floo? I hate apparating."

"Sorry Harry," Remus said. "I went to The Leaky Cauldron earlier and they ran out of floo powder."

Harry Groaned again and grabbed onto Sirius' arm. Suddenly, he felt as if he was being pulled through a very tight tube. It was getting harder and harder for Harry to breathe until they finally reached their destination… the burrow? 'What are we doing at the burrow?' Harry pondered.

Sirius opened the door and inside was the entire Weasley Clan plus the Grangers who all shouted, "Happy birthday, Harry!" Harry smiled. After all of the Hogwarts excitement, he almost forgot that it was his birthday. A pile of presents was sitting on the couch. After cake (which Mrs. Weasley prepared in the shape of a Golden Snitch) Harry began opening them. From Ron and Ginny, he got a new practice Snitch. From Hermione, he got the latest edition of Hogwarts: A History. From Fred and George, he got a box of Dungbombs. From Percy, he got a book of famous people who rose to power. From Charlie, he got a book on Dragons. From Bill, he got a sneakoscope. From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, he got a basketful of homemade sweets.

The last present was somewhat round in shape and was covered in a sheet instead of being wrapped in paper. There was a rattling sound coming from it and it seemed to shake every other second. Harry took off the sheet and unveiled a beautiful Snowy Owl. "How do you like her, Harry?" Remus asked

Harry just continued to stare at the owl in astonishment. "She's beautiful."

Remus smiled "I'm glad you think so. Happy Birthday Harry!"

**A/N: Well there you go. Another chapter up. I love how the book does the Ollivander visit but I like how they did it in the movie so i tried to integrate a bit from both (mostly the book) also I was thinking of maybe starting a new story when Harry and Co. get on the Hogwarts Express and have one or two years per story. What do you think of that idea. I have taken down the last poll about the chamber and replaced it with a poll about the idea. please vote and please review.**


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